


Arrival at Dawn

by TheStorytellerBri



Category: Bloodborne (Video Game), My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, Gen, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Mild Sexual Content, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-05-04 14:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14594832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStorytellerBri/pseuds/TheStorytellerBri
Summary: A young Hunter named Katya awakes in a new town called Portia, with no knowledge of how they got there or how to get out.  Glad to be away from Yharnam's troubles, she makes the most of her situation and tries to live a normal life again while she still can.But, the Hunt is far from over, and night will always come...





	1. A Breath of Fresh Air

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hunt's End](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12949752) by [Blizzardsoflizzards](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzardsoflizzards/pseuds/Blizzardsoflizzards). 



> Hello, and welcome to my brand new fic, "Arrival at Dawn"! I've been wanting to write something a little different for quite a while now, and I thought this would do the trick.
> 
> As stated earlier, I got inspiration for this from Blizzardsoflizzards' story "Hunt's End", mainly the premise of a Hunter finding themselves in a much calmer, more laidback setting and them adjusting to it. I enjoy stories like that a lot, and I thought I could try something along that line. It is a simple premise, but you can do a lot with it.
> 
> And don't worry for readers of my other stories, I will get those updated soon. I'm almost done with one of them, and I've gotten some motivation back with the other, so hopefully I'll get back to posting those, too.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy this strange little tale.

Katya pulled the gate in front of her up, collapsing onto the ground. She clutched her head as she felt her legs grow even number from pain.

Going into the labyrinth like this was a mistake. She sighed as she saw the elevator in front of her, the dark underneath it feeling as though it would swallow her whole. Of course she wasn't done.

She reached into the pocket of her- Eileen's, really- cape and jabbed a blood vial into her thigh. Using the nearby wall as support, Katya stood up, still shaking, but not completely out of it.

She made a mental note of how few vials she had left, and stepped onto the elevator. She only had five at this point. She couldn't go through another layer.

Just to the lantern. She quickly reminded herself. Back to the dream. Going any further would be death.

Still, she found herself curling her fingers around a throwing knife hidden in a loop in the crowfeather cape, just in case anything decided to rush at her.

That was when she noticed where she was headed.

The elevator, to her surprise, was moving up. At a quick speed, too. She looked upwards and found nothing but dirt above.

Was she hallucinating? Perhaps venturing in had messed with her more than she thought.

The elevator slowed, then stopped altogether. Katya looked around, finding the elevator stuck in clumps of soil and rock.

What was going on?

Just as she was about to step forwards, a great lurch in the earth made her fall back onto the pressure plate. The elevator rose again, ever so slightly, then plummeted beneath her.

Katya felt herself lift away from the elevator, and closed her eyes, awaiting the fall that would send her back to the boss area she just left.  
***

Wind was the first sensation Katya felt when she woke up.

A light breeze, playing with her ebony hair. She opened her eyes and found herself laying on her stomach, her face turned to the side. Bright green grass filled her view.

How did she end up back at the Hunter's Dream? As she sat up, she noticed the sky, and all previous thoughts left her.

The sky was so... _alive_ , somehow. Fading from blue at the horizon, a light purple tinge with a few stray clouds filled the beautiful, vast sky. Birds, actual, normal songbirds, flew along it without a care.

"Sunrise." Katya remarked. With the night, the Hunt, and the Chalice Dungeons, the word almost seemed foreign to her. Out of place, for a thing like herself to even imagine.

This certainly wasn't Yharnam.

Katya suddenly realized this, and went into a silent panic. She had no idea where she even was. She pulled out her axe and pistol from her belt loop and cautiously began exploring. The main thing she took in were the colors. Everything seemed so bright, so vibrant. It almost hurt her eyes to look.

As she crested a nearby hill, she took note of everything. To her left was what looked like a ocean, or maybe a large lake. The sun still wasn't very high up in the sky, either. Greenery spread out in all directions, creatures of some kind walking about without a care. In front of her was a large metal gate in the distance, and she could see what looked like a town on the right, somewhat. Behind her was a large, formidable building, in some state of disarray. A strange scent came from there, not of blood, but still threatening nonetheless. She couldn't quite place what the smell could have been, but it reminded her of the aqueduct in a way.

Katya shrugged and rolled her shoulders back as she ventured to the gate. If something wanted to mess with her, she could handle it just fine. She did it before, and she could do it again.

The massive gate opened slightly, and she paused. Three people walked through, not carrying weapons. Katya slunk to the side, being careful not to be seen.

"Still, for something to have made that big of a crash..." One said, sighing. It was a male, with messy orange-red hair. "You think there would've been some kind of crater or impact mark. Sam, you see anything?"

Sam appeared to be the only female of the three, although she carried herself no different from the two men. She was clearly used to this sort of thing. "Nothing yet." She replied, surveying the area up ahead. "I'm going to look over in this alcove. Arlo, you and Remington see if whatever made this crash is up ahead." The redhead and a taller man with green hair nodded. "Although, it is strange that there's no monsters about right now..."

"Whatever crashed must've spooked them." The green haired man explained. "It _was_ pretty loud, after all."

Katya, hidden in the alcove Sam was about to investigate, sidestepped around to the edge, attempting to get around to behind them before they moved along. Three people were trouble if she got surrounded, and the cramped space of the alcove she was in made her uncomfortable. Too big of a risk to get walled in.

As she exited the alcove, she focused on the two men, Arlo and Remington, Sam had called them. They headed down the path, towards the dilapidated building. She stepped back slightly, still keeping an eye on them, while trying to stay out of Sam's eye of sight.

And that was when Katya noticed that this accursed alcove was near a small drop, as her foot slipped on the rocks underneath and she came crashing down. She shifted her weight so that her feet were underneath her, and used a plunging attack with her axe to stable herself.

There was a terrible noise as her axe hit stone, the reverberations from it almost causing her to drop it in pain. Arlo and Remington stopped in their tracks.

"What was that?" Sam asked from above. She was running from the alcove down the path.

 _Damn._ Katya straightened up and readied her weapons. Time for a fight.

Sam was the closest to her at this point, so she charged in and fired a warning shot at the girl, backing away quickly to stay out of sight of the guys before she was noticed.

"Seriously, what's going on here?" Sam asked, looking around. "Alright, whatever's here is hostile, and with weapons from the old world. We should get reinforcements."

"And just what's going to stop old world relics?" The redhead asked. He was walking towards Sam. "Besides, it'll take days for the builders to make supplies."

"Arlo, this is potentially an attack." The green haired man, Remington by default, said. "We need to head back and gather townsfolk who would be willing to fight. Relics or not, Portia might be in grave danger."

This was bad. Other people getting involved would be terrible, not just for Katya, but for them as well. Who knew how big the town was? A miniature army was the last thing she wanted to deal with.

Arlo stopped walking. Katya took a deep breath, and ran in, swinging her axe right in front of his face, and firing another warning shot at Remington. Seeing as how they seemed to be sane, she didn't want to do fatal harm to them.

However, she was essentially cornered, and she was just relying on basic instincts at that point.

Arlo jumped back in surprise, and Katya spun around to see Sam coming towards her, and quickly. She dodged to the side and swung her axe down, hoping to just graze the fabric of her shirt.

However, Sam had different plans. She twisted around and tried to follow the hunter, causing the axe to cut through her right side. Sam let out a scream of pain as blood ran down her side as she fell to the ground, clutching it tightly. Katya backed up and extended her axe to its two handed form, hoping it would deter the men from coming close.

_But then again, Sam could be used a hostage..._

Katya shook her head as the thought came into her head. She needed to think clearly about this. She stepped over Sam, still holding the axe with two hands, cautious and guarded. In terms of numbers, she was at a disadvantage, but both men were clearly panicked and scared for themselves and for their friend on the ground.

Neither of them moved. She crouched down and let out a charged attack, hitting Remington's left leg. Arlo ducked under the swing, but still got caught off guard by a well timed throwing knife to the thigh. He gasped and fell, holding onto it, not sure as to whether or not to take it out.

The scent of blood in the air was too much to handle. Her mind went blank, as it often did when she got accustomed to beast hunting, and she contracted the axe's length back to one handed and raised it again at Arlo's bowed head.

A sharp flash of an image of the eye the messengers gave her suddenly came to mind. The eye of the blood drunken hunter they had found. Her axe, high in the air stopped, and fell to the ground as her grip loosened on it.

Too lost in her desolate thoughts, Katya didn't realize the sound of movement behind her until something struck her the back to the head, and everything went dark.  
***

The stench of chemicals and the sterile smell of medical supplies filled the air as Katya came to. Everything felt fuzzy, and the world was a hazy blur. Voices, voices were coming from somewhere, saying something, but the pain from her neck, the overwhelming stench of the clinic was too much.

She turned over so she was face down and curled into a ball the best she could. Her right arm was hooked up to something, she quickly realized. She closed her eyes, and focused on the voices she heard, trying to block out everything else her senses were picking up.

"...She has relics of the old corrupted world on her?! Why did you bring her into town then?" A deeper, masculine voice yelled, clearly outraged. "You all could've been killed, and yet--"

"What, are you saying we should've risked our lives for nothing?" Arlo was shouting now. "She was cornered, and she seems to have some sense of mind in her. It's not like we brought in a monster from the Hazardous Ruins. She's a _human_!"

"With forbidden technology!" The other man repeated. "What if it turns out she's a Duvos spy? What then?"

"Listen, both of you make valid points to this." Another man replied. "But for right now, she's Dr. Xu's patient, and I'm sure that the _Civil Corps_ will be keeping a close eye on her until we determine she's no threat to us."

"Thank you, Gale." Arlo said, relieved. "And Lee, don't worry. We were just caught off guard this time." He let out a faint, but pain filled, chuckle. "We'll make sure that she doesn't try pulling anything like this in town."

"I should hope not." Lee replied hastily. "Well, if you need anything else, I'll be going now."

"I should be heading off, too." Gale said. "Doctor, let us know when you think she'll be alright to have around others. I'll arrange a fireside meeting to let the rest of the town know what's going on."

"Will do. And I'll make sure Sam's well taken care of, too." Another voice reassured.

A calming feminine voice cut through Katya's concentration, startling her.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

Katya sat up to see a woman with short, thick blonde hair in a blue uniform standing near her bed. She calmly smiled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you like that." She said. "I'm just going to take your vitals and switch the IV drip. Is that alright with you?"

"It's fine. Do whatever you need to." Katya replied. She noticed her clothes carefully folded in a chair nearby, the cape draped across the back. She looked at her arm and noticed the bandages wrapped around it. "You dressed my other wounds, too?"

"Well, of course we did. Arlo and Remington just came in, with you and Sam carried on their backs and them limping." The woman explained. "We had no idea what could've happened until they explained it all to us. Besides, it's kind of my job to make sure my patients are fully cared for, no matter what wounds they have." She looked at her, then gasped softly. "My apologies, I never introduced myself. My name is Phyllis, I'm the nurse here at Dr. Xu's clinic."

"I'm Katya." Katya introduced herself in return. "Thank you, Phyllis. Wait, 'the' nurse? Are you the _only_ one?"

Phyllis laughed. "Yes, Portia's a very small town. Dr. Xu's the only doctor, as well. You'll probably be able to meet everyone when you're cleared."

"I heard them talking about that. Trust me, I'm no beast. You don't need to worry." She could sense the cynicism of her remark, but remembered her blood stained axe, and how red her cape would get with blood. "I was cornered. I was just acting on instinct. I'm normally... I don't act like that around..." Why was this so hard to say? "I've dealt with...things. In the past. I don't just....attack regular people."

The nurse slowly nodded, as if trying to understand. "Well, I'll get Doctor Xu for you now. He has a couple questions for you."

Katya suddenly became anxious. They clearly had to look through her personal effects for more 'corrupted relics', and her weapons were nowhere in sight. What would they think when they saw her blood vials? The blood drunk hunter's eye, which she kept close to her to remind her of the scourge's effects?

A man younger than Katya would have imagined as a doctor to be walked in. He gave a relaxing smile to her, and pulled up an empty chair close to her bed.

"I'm Dr. Xu. I'm sure Phyllis already told you about me." He said. "Is it alright if I ask you a couple of questions about yourself?"

"If you must." Katya replied, on guard. "And Katya's my name. I don't know if Phyllis told you."

"Good, good." Xu muttered. "So, Katya, can you tell me where you're from?" He held up a clipboard and pen.

Just as she was about to answer, she realized that couldn't remember. Hazy recollections came floating back, but it was nothing concrete. Being alone in a sea of fire. News broadcasts. People asking questions. Getting on with life.

The dizzying pain. Collapsing several times. The hospital visits.

Paleblood, they had said. Not too long to live.

Someone, somewhere, on the street, in a shady bar, mentioning Yharnam, and the Healing Church. Blood ministration.

And then, the Hunt began. And that was where everything became vivid again.

"Yharnam." She finally said. A half truth, but it might as well as been whole. She knew that something left her when she met Gehrman and began hunting, and that the old her would shudder in terror with what she had become. "An older city. You might know them due to the Healing Church, the..." Her voice trailed off. _Just be honest._ "I don't remember, not fully. I was an outsider in Yharnam, and I'm an outsider here. But, I was made who I am there. I might not have been born or raised there, but I was made anew in that place."

Xu slowly wrote something down on his clipboard. "And this Yharnam place, it's where you...?"

"Yes, it's where I got my weapons from." Katya interjected shortly. "The cape, the mask, and the blood vials are all from there, too. Basically, anything I had on me when you found me was from there."

Xu looked confused. "The...the blood vials?"

"You didn't find any? I would've thought you had thoroughly searched for more 'corrupted relics' I might have had on me."

"No, no, we just took your immediate weapons. The axe, the gun, and the saw... knife...thing. What do these blood vials do? I've never heard of them before, and well, I'm curious about the different types of medicine that were used in the old world. You mentioned a Healing Church, are they from there?"

The doctor's curiosity was certainly peaked at this point. Katya closed her eyes in thought. Obviously, divulging too much information would be a problem.

"They're used for blood ministration." She said slowly. "As a part of blood healing. I'm not entirely sure how it works, myself, but...it's supposed to help cure illnesses." She stopped. "I think. My memories are still a little hazy. I was exploring the catacombs underneath Yharnam for a very long time before I found myself here."

"What were you doing in a place like that?" He was asking this out of concern as a person, not just as a doctor this time.

"I needed more strength before I faced the nightmare head-on." She said this simply. Katya knew this wouldn't make sense to anyone but her, and perhaps another Hunter, but it was the truth. She knew that whatever was in that tower, it would cause the night to end.

And there was no way she could've faced it then.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the clinic. Katya picked at a loose thread on the blanket, not sure of what else to say.

"You'll meet with the rest of the Civil Corps and the mayor in a few days." Dr. Xu said, standing up. "I'll share with them what you've told me, as well. If that's alright with you, that is."

"It's fine." Katya replied. "You guys need to know more about me, anyways, so..." She picked up her head. Something strange hung in the air, something...familiar to her. The sound of rustling fabric came from somewhere, slowly, carefully.

As if they were trying to not be noticed.

Katya carefully grabbed Xu's wrist, bringing one finger of her free hand up to her lips. He looked confused, but didn't pull away. The sound of footsteps gently hitting the floor.

"Is Sam still here?" Katya whispered to the doctor.

Just as Xu was about to answer, the gentle footsteps turned into limbs hitting the floor, hard. The smell of blood filled the air. Katya let go of Xu's wrist, and she turned to see Sam sitting on the floor. She struggled to stand up properly as the doctor approached her.

"Sam, you're supposed to be on bedrest right now." He said. His doctor persona was back.

"I'm fine, Doc, really!" Sam insisted as she propped herself up next to the bed. "I don't need to sit a bed all day."

"I think one of your sutures came loose." Katya interjected. "You're bleeding."

Sam looked at her side to see the hospital gown sticking to her abdomen, red with blood. She looked at the hunter with a look of disgust, but said nothing.

"A wounded hunter's as good as a dead one, you know." Katya explained. "Lures the beasts in more, the hunters, too. You guys are good fighters, I'm sure the Civil Corps will be fine without a member for a couple days."

Dr. Xu grabbed a few instruments from nearby, adjusted Sam's IV, and began repairing the torn sutures. There was silence again in the clinic, but the stillness was welcome this time. Phyllis came back in and sat back down next to Katya. She did a few tests to make sure Katya wasn't suffering from a concussion, wrote a few things down on a nearby clipboard, then walked back out again.

She leaned her head back on the bed and closed her eyes. Despite not doing much, Katya was exhausted. The new environment, interacting with so many people, and of course, the blow to the head wore her down, physically and mentally.

Portia, she believed Phyllis said this place was called. It seemed like this would be her new hunting ground for a while. Until she figured out how to get back to Yharnam, anyway.

Katya drifted off to sleep, the image of the sunrise still echoing in her mind.

Things were going to be different from here on.


	2. Moonlight's Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disturbing dream leads to an interesting discovery.

_Oh, my darling, you've fallen so far..._

White flower petals danced in the air around Katya. The moon's light shone around her, causing the asphodel flowers to appear to glow.

_You've walked away from your purpose, from your destiny._

A large, looming shadow appeared in the sky, blocking the moon from sight. She sat on her knees, looking up at this force, this spectacular being in an awe filled silence.

_Allow me to grant you the eyes you need to see again, my dear._

The being held out an arm in Katya's direction. She felt herself drawn in to it, and as she slowly stood up, she reached out her own hand.

_There now. You're safe. You're safe now._

The wind picked up around them. The flower petals, the glowing white flowers, spun around them. The being pulled Katya closer, strange Eldritch mutterings ringing in her ears. Nothing felt real in that moment, nothing could be seen but flashes of visions of humanity.

And a high pitched scream rang out from outside the clearing, a voice Katya knew so well, but tinged with fear and alarm. Something not associated with that voice in the slightest.

"GOOD HUNTER!"

_You're safe now, my child._

_Rest, Mergo._  
***

Katya rose up with a start, suppressing a scream. She held her shaking body close to her tightly, trying to still her pounding heart. A Great One. She had seen a Great One approach her.

And she knew where, as well. Those asphodel flowers only grew in one place in Yharnam.

And if a Great One had managed to find their way there, then the future of Hunters to come could be at risk.

As Katya sat up, she thought about the dream a little bit more. She did feel like she took in the insanity of the world around her a little more now, like she could see more of what was hidden. And the name it had called her, Mergo. It felt so familiar, somehow...

And the Doll's screams for her. How she had been so easily lured in by that mysterious Great One, how captivated she had been by it.

There was no time to sit around and think. Katya jumped off the ledge(?) she was on and onto the floor. She didn't know how long she was asleep for, but it was still night. As she moved to walk out of the building she was in, something stuck on her right arm snagged and pulled her back.

Pain shot through Katya's arm as whatever it was jerked her around. She let out a yelp of surprise and went to get her gun from her belt loop, hoping to hit whatever had her with the butt of the pistol, when she realized that she wasn't wearing her usual hunting clothes, but rather, a pale blue hospital gown.

Wait.

Katya took a quick look around, her eyes getting adjusted to the dark. Several beds were lining the walls, metal IV hangers next to them. Katya's arm hugger was once such hanger, the bag still one third full. She could sense the presence of another person nearby.

_Wait...!_

The panic and realization hit her all at once. She sank to the floor, stunned. That Great One had done something to her, causing her to go back to Iosefka's Clinic. Maybe she had figured out too much? Maybe it realized that she could stop the Night from ending, and trapped her from ever getting close again.

She had no weapons. No garb besides the hospital gown she had on. And she was restrained to the confines of the IV drip.

She curled up in the fetal position on the floor, trying not to scream in frustration. How could she have been so _stupid?!_ She let out a shaky sigh as she realized that tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

And so, she laid on the floor of the clinic, sobbing.

"Katya?" Someone behind her asked soothingly. She whirled around and backed up in a defensive stance when she saw the silhouette of a young woman stooping in front of her.

"How do you...?" She stammered this through a tear-choked voice. "Why do you know my name?"

"Katya, I need you to relax." The woman replied, still in her soothing tone. "Can you tell me where you are right now?"

"I... Isn't this _your_ clinic, Iosefka?" She demanded, regaining some of her composure.

"Shh. My name is Phyllis. You're in Dr. Xu's clinic, in Portia." Phyllis consoled. She scooted a little closer. "We met earlier this morning, Katya. You had come in with the Civil Corps. You're safe."

Phyllis gently tapped Katya's shoulders, still gently walking her through what had happened and reassuring her. Katya didn't resist, and Phyllis wrapped her arms around her, stroking her hair.

The two of them stayed like this for a while, Phyllis muttering comforting words, and Katya slowly taking it all in. Finally, Katya spoke.

"Thank you, Phyllis." She said. "For doing this for me. You didn't have to."

"No, I was just doing my job." The nurse replied. "No need to thank me at all." She stood up and helped Katya to her feet. "Glad to see you feeling better."

Something clicked in Katya's mind. "Wait, were you here all night?"

Phyllis laughed. "Well, it's my job, isn't it? I do have patients to look over, after all." As she continued, she began unhooking Katya's arm from the IV. "And that reminds me, I picked up a couple books for you to look through, if you're interested. Just some history books and the like about Portia and the surrounding cities. Lucy was happy to lend me them for you. We want you to feel at home here, even if it's just for a little while." She motioned to the books stacked neatly on the nightstand next to her bed. "And one of the Builders in town even made you a notebook. She thought it might help if you wrote everything down."

"Tell them I said thanks." Katya replied. It was still too dark to read properly, but just having the books nearby made her feel a little more comfortable. It reminded her of when she would spend hours flipping through the pages of the Workshop's library, trying to learn as much as she could about the Hunt. It was a common sight for Gehrman to see her perched in a corner, lost in a book before she went out to a new area.

And even then, the feeling was still quite nostalgic to her.

As much as Katya would've loved to sleep through the rest of the night, she was too awake to settle down in her bed just yet. Phyllis had gone to a different area of the clinic after checking on Sam, most likely to rest herself, so Katya was very much alone.

Seeing as how she didn't much to do, she decided to explore.

The clinic wasn't very big, in fact it was mainly just one large room, with another tucked away to the side. The windows lining the back wall were quite large, overlooking what Katya assumed was a small business area, from the appearance of the buildings. Moonlight filtered in from not quite overhead, but still somewhat high in the sky. It was sometime after midnight, she figured.

Something flashed in Katya's peripheral. She turned around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She walked away from the window and stood in the center of the clinic.

Again, something just out of the corner of her vision, this time coming out of the window. Whatever it was, it wanted Katya to follow.

She looked at the small door leading to the office Phyllis was sleeping in. She didn't want to worry her by just running off, but something about what she was seeing seemed odd to her. It kept pulling at her, like she needed to pursue.

Katya quietly grabbed her crowfeather cape and draped it around her shoulders as she opened the doors to the clinic.

This wouldn't take long.  
***

The night air was cool and heavy with rain as Katya walked down the path. She probably should've grabbed some shoes before heading out, but it was already too late. She made a commitment to follow whatever this thing was, and she wasn't turning back.

She looked around, trying to take in her surroundings. A path leading down into town on her right, another building on her left, labeled 'Civil Corps.' with a pig statue in front. A soft glow came from further down, and Katya was off in that direction. It bounced rhythmically from side to side, gently swaying with movement.

A person? How strange, if it was. It moved slowly now, stopping when Katya did.

Whatever who or what it was, it wanted to be pursued.

The glow lead her to the giant gate she had seen earlier that day. It looked to be solid metal, with a sign that read 'Collasped Wasteland'. The glow had stopped.

Or maybe it hadn't?

She walked over to the door, and to her surprise, it opened automatically. Katya walked along the small dirt path when she noticed the glow again, near the ground.

Someone was hunched over the light, doing something to it. They looked up when Katya approached.

"This Nightmare's that held you captive, the beastly legends...what did you think of them?" They asked, standing up. Their face was hidden by a heavy cloak, but their voice...it was so familiar...

"Who are you?" Katya asked, taking a step towards them. "Why did you bring me out here?"

"Because you will not find your enemies here. Leave this place, and have respect for the beast-hunter Gehrman's wishes." They looked at her curiously. "Or, are these secrets not enough for you? Return to your hunt, good Hunter, and forget about this place. This is not where you're meant to be."

Katya ran and jumped towards the stranger, and they dodged easily. Katya swung her arm to go in for a punch, but they dodged again. She went to go for another hit, but was stopped and brought to her knees by a bullet going through her ankle. Quickening up to the girl, they grabbed her arm tightly and held her close to them. Something slashed her skin on her left side, most likely a knife or sharp blade.

"You've surely gone mad, thinking to attack me with no weapons to defend yourself with." They hissed. Katya helplessly squirmed, their fingernails digging into her skin, but not enough to cause her to bleed from her captive arm. "Go back to your dreams, before you try something like that again."

And with that, Katya fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Her head was spinning, but she remained conscious. The mysterious Hunter looked to their own weapon, then turned around and disappeared.

Katya looked at the glow she had been following, now right in front of her. A lantern, to easily get her back to the Hunter's Dream. She lit the lantern, then turned back to get into town.

A Hunter wasn't going to intimidate her that easily.  
***

Katya limped back to the gate and fell to her knees, taking a few shaky breaths to resolve herself. That Hunter had done a number on her, and it didn't help that the rain had started halfway through her getting back to town.

But, she had a way out now. She could just leave, like they said she should. Return to the Hunt, kill the Nightmare...and then what? Live like Eileen, killing other Hunters who'd gone mad? Take Djura's place, for pushing him off the side of the tower?

Or, just let the madness catch up to her?

Katya looked up to the sky. The rain felt so nice, so soothing. It felt... _peaceful._

 _There could always be another way._ She thought. _Some other choice, right?_

As she sat on the ground, looking at the sky, something stirred within her. A sliver of hope. Maybe she was sent here for a reason.

Maybe she was meant to be in Portia, at the moment.

Katya stood up and began walking again, slowly. The damage was enough for a blood vial, and the urge to reach for one was strong, but she decided not to. If she still only had five vials, she would need to use them as sparingly as possible. Not to mention that she didn't even know if she was still sustained by the Dream in this place.

Well, clinics were made for healing, after all. And besides, what's a little humanity going to hurt every now and then?

The town was starting to wake up by the time Katya made it back to the clinic. Some people were setting up shops, and others were running about town, wearing odd umbrella hats on their heads. Luckily, nobody bothered her or questioned her as to why she was walking about barefoot and only in a hospital gown and cape, but she couldn't help but notice the strange looks in her direction, the hushed whispers as she went by.

To be fair, beating up the Civil Corps. was one hell of an entrance, so she wasn't surprised by their reaction, or even the lack thereof, to her.  
She entered the clinic to find a flustered looking Phyllis quickly walking by, umbrella hat in hand. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Katya.

"There you are." She said. "You really scared us, you know. Don't run off like that!" She placed the hat on the nearby desk. "The doctor's been running all over the place, looking for you. We would've sent the Civil Corps. after you if you'd been gone for even longer."

There was clearly more to be said, but Phyllis stopped when she saw Katya's expression, head bowed low, like a small child being scolded.

"Sorry to worry you so much." Katya said quietly. "I saw something, and my first instinct was to pursue it." She limped over to her bed, and crawled back into it, wrapping her cape around her. "I'm not used to...all of this."

"What did you find?" The nurse asked, sitting next to her. She gently pulled Katya's ankle towards her, and got up to get some gauze and other instruments. "Are you hurt anywhere else? I see you're bleeding from your side, I'll deal with that, too." She began stitching Katya's side wound, and moved on to treat her ankle.

Katya was silent. She knew it would only panic her if she said another Hunter found their way here. Besides, the identity of said Hunter still bothered her. Judging by how they were able to use quickening, they were an Old Hunter. The scent of blood had been heavy in their breath, and the sword and gun she had was unlike anything she had seen, even in the Old Workshop.

Just as she thought she was missing something important, the doors to the clinic opened and someone walked inside.

"Is anyone here?" A young woman with shoulder length blonde hair walked in, wearing a brown jacket with white fur and matching brown shorts. "Oh, Phyllis. Are you busy?"

"Almost done, Linda." Phyllis replied coolly as she wrapped Katya's ankle in bandages and gauze. "Let me wash my hands real quick. Are you looking for the doctor? I think he posted a commission."

"I took a different one, sorry." The young woman, Linda, replied. "Actually, I'm looking for something. Could you help me?"

"If that something was a runaway patient, she's already come back." Phyllis joked as she walked out of the back room, drying her hands. "This is Katya, by the way. Katya, this is Linda, a Builder around here. She's the one who made that notebook I told you about."

"It's really nice to meet you, Katya." Linda said cheerfully. "If you ever need something made, don't hesitate to ask me. I might be relatively new around here as well, but I can also show you around if you want."

"When did you get here?" Katya asked.

"I've been here for about a year now. I took over my dad's workshop on the edge of town, so I'm there a majority of the time. Either there, or in one of the Hazardous Ruins." Linda replied. She let out a soft giggle. "I heard from Remington that you're quite a fighter. Maybe you could join me one day?"

"We should focus on the topic at hand, though that does sound nice." Katya said. "You said you were looking for something?"

"Oh, right. I suppose that's quite important, after all. Polly said she lost her doll somewhere around here, and I agreed to help look for it." Linda answered, taken aback slightly by Katya's bluntness. "Have you seen one at all?"

"I haven't seen one in the clinic." Katya replied, getting out of her bed. She kept her left foot off the ground to avoid putting weight on her ankle. "Outside, perhaps? What does it look like?"

"She said it was...boney?" Linda closed her eyes in thought. "You can move the arms and fingers, and you can see the mechanisms for it. I think it's an Old World thing, though they still make them, they're just rare."

"So, a ball-jointed doll." Katya clarified. Linda and Phyllis looked at her curiously. "I...I had one. Growing up." She cleared her throat. "What's it wearing?"

"A dress. A gray dress, and a bonnet." Linda replied. Katya felt a pit growing in her stomach.

"With thin slivery-gray hair?" She asked. "Tied in a ponytail?"

"Yes, that's what Polly said the doll looked like. Why?" Linda looked even more confused.

Phyllis stepped towards her cautiously. "You look scared. Is everything alright?"

"Who gave her that doll?" Katya asked, stepping towards Linda. "Did she tell you who gave it to her?"

"I... She said it was very important, that's why she wants it back as soon as possible." Linda was clearly frightened. "Someone gave it to her, and said it was important."

"I didn't ask why, I asked--!" Katya cut herself off. She took a deep breath. "Did she say what this person looked like? Was it a man in wheelchair?"

"She said it was a woman. Not from here."

"I thought as much." Katya turned to Phyllis. "I'm going out. Where'd you put my weapons?"

"They're with the Research Center. Why do you need them?" Phyllis asked cautiously.

Katya didn't answer, busy looking through the rest of her things. She grabbed the first shirt she could find, then grabbed a pair of pants. She waved off a concerned Phyllis as she got changed, grabbing her boots and lacing them up.

"No enemies here, you said." She muttered. "Then what are you doing here? Looking for another possible Hunter?" She stopped. "Oh, the Doll!"

"What about the doll?" Linda asked.

"The Doll, that's who she sounded like!" Katya exclaimed. "The Hunter I ran into that gave me the lantern. I should've known by how she called me 'Good Hunter'. She's the Doll!" She shook her head, grabbing her cape again. "I don't have time to explain all of it. Linda, where's this Research Center at? I have a Hunter to interrogate."


	3. The Search of a Certain Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda and Katya attempt to find the Old Hunter who had arrived in Portia.

Linda and Katya briskly walked down the nearby flight of stairs, Katya still avoiding putting weight on her injured ankle.

"The Research Center is to the right." Linda said. "Are you sure you should be doing this now, with your injuries?"

"It's fine." Katya replied. "I'm a Hunter, I've faced much, much worse than this. Besides, this is something that can't wait."

Linda didn't respond. Instead, she simply gestured over to a nearby building with tall blue doors. She opened the door and waited for Katya to catch up.

"Petra, where'd you hide those weapons?" Linda asked.

Petra popped her head out from behind some sort of machine. She was a comely young woman, with long thick black hair. With her thin frame and her calm demeanor, Katya thought, she would make a good Hunter, or at least a good researcher for Hunters.

She grimaced as the thought fully crossed her mind, and brushed it aside. That mindset didn't work here.

"The Director's in the museum right now." Petra said, walking over. "And I have strict orders from her to not just hand these weapons to anybody."

Linda placed a hand on Katya's shoulder. "Not even to her?" She asked, smirking. Petra's demeanor changed as soon as she realized that there was another person with her.

"You must be the owner of these things. Heard you gave the Civil Corps. a run for their Gols with these, not an easy feat for anyone around here." Petra remarked as she grabbed Katya's axe from a cabinet. "So, what are these weapons used for, anyway?"

"Beast hunting, mostly." Katya answered, taking the axe. She held it in her right arm, and did a few practice swings. "Why? You curious about it?"

"We just took a good look at them, just to see how they work and feel." Petra explained. She grabbed the pistol and saw cleaver. "Need anything else?"

Katya grabbed the pistol and put it on her left belt loop. "You can leave the saw cleaver here. Fire's really only good against beasts."

"Hm? You're not hunting a beast?" Petra asked, walking over after locking the cabinet. She looked back at Katya, then to Linda. "Then what are you tracking down? Did something from inside the Hazardous Ruins escape or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that, don't worry. It's another Hunter." Linda interjected. "She thinks they might be up to something."

Petra was silent, but looked at Linda again. Linda gave her a reassuring smile. It seemed to calm her a bit.

"Didn't figure hunters to be the territorial type." Petra remarked absentmindedly. She paused for a bit, as if to ask something else, but didn't pursue the line of questioning. "Well, hope you'll be alright out there." She quickly turned back to working with one of the nearby machines.

"Thank you, Petra." Katya said. "I'll be fine." She walked back over to the entrance, Linda following close behind.

"So, where to now?" She asked as they left the Research Center. "You said you saw the Hunter in the Collasped Wasteland, right?" They went up the steps towards the gate.

"You're staying here in case anything goes wrong." Katya explained curtly. " _I'm_ going to go to the Wastes and look for them."

Linda looked like she wanted to debate the issue, but the Hunter sent her a glare, and she backed off.

"Hunters are dangerous, especially if they're blood-drunk. I don't want you getting killed because you don't know what you're doing." Katya continued. "So, stay here. And if anything happens, be prepared for a fight."

With those words, Katya took out a blood vial and plunged it in her leg, glad to finally stop hobbling around on one leg. She held her axe and gun, and stepped towards the gate to the Collasped Wasteland, which swung open like some pair of ravenous jaws.

Katya steadied herself, and walked through, not looking back at Linda as the door closed behind her. The smell of blood filled the air. She walked over to the edge of the beginning of the wasteland, overlooking a large lake.

It was so silent.

Katya scanned the area, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She went down the path and arrived in front of the Hazardous Ruins Linda mentioned.

So, so silent. And cold, despite the thickness of the crowfeather cape.

She continued up a nearby hill, the stench of blood getting even stronger. It felt like she would be able to see her breath soon, it was so cold. Her movements got slower, as if she was walking through water. The blood smell soon began to mix with something strange and fetid, something _inhuman_.

Katya finally crested the hill, sprinting the rest of the way despite the strange resistance. She looked up to see a blood red moon high above her, the sky turning black as pitch. Wind whipped around her wildly, sending grass flying in every direction. The blood smell was now overpowered by the fetid stench tenfold.

A glow came from the moon, and the Great One from her dream descended onto the hill. She instinctively backed up in fear, taking quick glances behind her to make sure she didn't slip and fall.

But, the Great One wasn't interested in her. It slowly walked over to someone else on the hill, with a girl medium length orange-yellow hair done back in a braid. She didn't make any movements, just stared up at it, eyes empty and void, despite everything going on around her. It was like she was in some sort of trance. She slowly looked at Katya, a familiar looking ball-jointed doll clutched in her arms.

Just as she was about to say something, the Old Hunter Katya had been pursuing leapt out of the underbrush, swinging their weapon at the Great One. Katya grabbed the girl by the arm.

"Follow me. It's not safe here." She said, dragging her down the hill. Once at a reasonable distance away, she stopped. It'd be safer in town, but the gate was too far away for her to sprint back and help the Hunter. Not to mention the Great One seemed to have an interest in her. "Stay here. I need to help them out." The girl, still in her strange trance, simply nodded in reply.

With that, Katya charged up the hill to help the Hunter, who had separated her weapon into two swords. She plunged them into her abdomen, and pulled them out with a sense of ferocity, the blades covered in blood. She quickened up to the Great One, swinging the swords. The blood from the blades whipped off them, adding extra distance to it.

"Need some help?" Katya asked, extending her axe to its two-handed form.

"It'd be appreciated." The Old Hunter replied. "Let us cleanse these foul streets, Good Hunter."

Katya got on the other side of the Great One and let out a charged attack. The Great One swept her away with an arm easily, and began lumbering down the hill, towards the Hazardous Ruin and the girl in the trance.

"We can't let it get to town!" Katya shouted. "I'll try to stop it."

"No, wait!" The Hunter yelled.

Katya barrelled down the hill, shooting at the Great One and struck it with her axe. But the Great One ignored her, and reached out towards the girl. She pushed her out of the way and was about to strike it again, but they grabbed her and pulled her close.

Strange Eldritch mutterings filled her ears, and unknown images of something swam in front of her eyes. She let out a scream as black arcane spikes crawled up her arms and legs, protruding out of her back. It was too much, too fast. So much information which couldn't be comprehended by humans properly. So much pain and suffering.

She heard footsteps, and what sounded like fighting. But, whatever this thing was doing was draining her, and quickly. It hurt to concentrate on anything.

The Great One stopped, then let go of Katya after a while. The Old Hunter ran up to her, while the girl just watched them through void and empty, practically soulless, eyes. The Hunter watched them for a while, analyzing, thinking of what each one would do.

Katya staggered to her feet, the frenzy spikes still prominent. Breathing heavily, she held her axe in one hand. Doing a weak charge forward, she swung again at the Great One.

A bright light filled the scene, sending Katya flying back. The Great One reeled backwards, screaming. The Hunter held onto the girl, to prevent her from getting blown away.

As the light died down, the Great One disappeared. The moon reverted back to its normal color, and the sky turned blue once more. Katya's frenzy reached its peak, and she fell to the ground in agony. The girl fell to the ground as well, unconscious.

"I told you to leave this place, did I not?" The Old Hunter asked Katya, walking towards her. She looked up at her, but made no effort to move. "Your enemies are not here. They are elsewhere, and you must attend to your duties as a Hunter. You should know this."

"Dream..." Katya sputtered. "In the Dream...they...Great One...in the Dream..."

The Hunter formed their weapon together again and stood over Katya in silence.

"Please, have mercy." Katya pleaded. She tried to sit up, but the pain coursing through her body was unbearable. "Please."

"I'm sorry, but the knowledge you possess does you no good here." The Old Hunter replied after a short while. "And this was never meant to be. I will give you mercy, Good Hunter, in the form of a quick and painless death." She raised the weapon overhead. "And when you go back to your Dream, tell Gehrman that Lady Maria sends her regards."

And with that, the sword was plunged through Katya's throat, not even allowing a scream to be cried out.  
***

Katya awoke on the grass, coughing and sputtering as she sat up. The moon hung low in the sky, and the lantern beside her glowed brightly.

The Hunter's Dream was still sustaining her, it seemed.

"Lady Maria..." Katya whispered to herself. She had a name, and a face to her Hunter now. The wounds she left were gone, and when she opened her cape, Katya found two rows of ten blood vials tucked neatly where they should be. "Why are you here?"

 _Why am_ I _here?_

There wasn't much time to sit around and mull over the situation. There was a Hunter to find, and a Great One to kill. She got up and headed to town.

As she went through the gate separating the Wastes from Portia, she noticed Petra walking down the street towards the Research Center.

"Hey, you work at the Research Center, right?" Katya asked, walking towards her. Petra stopped and looked at her curiously.

"I...do. What of it?" She replied cautiously. "I've never seen you before, so you're obviously not from around here. What do you want?"

"Can you get my weapons for me?" Katya asked. "I need them for something important."

Petra's expression and demeanor changed instantly. "Listen, I'd love to help you out with whatever you're doing, but I need more details than just that it's important. What are they for, first of all?"

"Beast hunting." Katya said impatiently. "And there's a..." She stopped. She couldn't just say 'a Great One'. Too much panic, too much time spent explaining things. "Look, does it matter what I need them for? I can explain later, this is a time sensitive thing we're dealing with."

"And I have strict orders from the Director to not give them to anyone without good reason." Petra shot back. "I'm not doubting they're your weapons, of course. I'm just trying to make sure you don't try for a round two on the Civil Corps."

Katya was silent. There was no getting past her this way.

"Have you seen someone with a ball-jointed doll around here?" Katya asked. "Or someone with blonde-ish hair in a braid?"

"I dunno about the doll thing, but are you talking about Emily?" Petra asked. "What do you want with her?"

"Where is she? Have you seen her at all today?"

"She's usually at her grandmother's ranch around this time, on the edge of town."

Katya nodded. If Emily had been targeted by the Great One, then it was important to get to her first, whether she had her weapons or not.

"Thank you, Petra." Katya said, running off. "And if you see someone with a strange looking doll, distract them, or something. Don't let them give that doll to anyone."

She was out of sight before Petra could say anything to her in response. She ran down the street in front of her, nearly running into others in her wake, apologizing as she passed by. She let out a small laugh as she bounded down a small flight of stairs, much to her surprise. It was hard not to, running through the streets barefoot and without a care in the world. She felt like a small child again, if only for the short while.

Katya slowed to a walk as she entered what looked like the main town square. Official looking buildings faced towards an impressive, if not intimidating, statue in the center surrounded by a fountain. An archway leading out of town was nearby, fields clearly visible from where Katya stood.

"What an...odd statue." She remarked, walking up to it. It was of a young looking man, taking a step forwards. The statue was well kept for, it seemed, the plague underneath it in good condition. She glanced at the inscription on it.

'J. Peach, the hero who lead humanity out of darkness.'

A sudden surge of...something rocked through Katya's body. She took a step back as whatever force was upon her took full hold.

_"You've always had a habit of finding things you were never meant to, right? Well, come find me, then. I'll be waiting on the edge of reality."_

As soon as that voice faded away, many more soon took its place, clamoring all at once.

_"She's a bright student, but she loses focus so easily. I'm not sure if she'll find a place for herself when she becomes an adult."_

_"She's talking to herself again. Claims fairies are visiting her."_

_"I bet she started that fire herself. She's such an attention whore."_

_"Don't you find it weird how she wasn't hurt at all?"_

_"She should be in jail, the little arson!"_

_"A girl like that's too much trouble to take in. She'll just wander off, chasing her 'fairies' or whatever."_

_"I have too much on my hands right now. Can't somebody else take care of her?"_

_"Should put her someplace where she can't hurt anybody."_

The voices were too much to bear. Hazy images of people leering over her floated around, always quite out of reach. The more she focused on who the people were, the louder the voices got.

The angrier they got.

Obscenities and insults, blame and ridicule. Threats. Punishment.

Katya clawed at her hair, in pain, in sorrow? Emotions that she felt had long left her returned with a great vengeance.

It was too much.

So much pain, this lonely existence. How did such a frail frame carry all these burdens?

No, she broke at some point. When? When did her miserable existence become too much to bear?

That memory was just out of reach. The truth of her being, what made her so cold.

Unable to reach her so needed resolution, and surrounded by the anger of everyone around her, she needed a release, a way out.

Katya let out a shrill scream of frustration, long and pain filled. Worse than her nearly blood-addled roar from within the Chalice Dungeons, more terrifying than the strangled yell let out whenever she died.

And just as she fell to her knees, expecting everything to fade away from sight, she was brought back to Portia, held aloft by a familiar looking Old Hunter.

"Steady yourself, Good Hunter." Lady Maria whispered in her ear. "It doesn't you any good to lose yourself now, does it?"

"I..." Katya was lost for words. "Something's wrong here." She quickly stood up as recollection shot through her. "The Great One! We need to stop it, before it gets to town!"

"What are you talking about? There's no Great One here." Lady Maria replied, confused. "If there was, I would be fighting it already." She motioned for Katya to follow her as she walked down the street

"Before you killed me, we were fighting a Great One together." Katya said, exasperated. "It led a girl to it, holding a doll you gave to somebody. She seemed entranced by it somehow. And...and I saw it earlier, in the Hunter's Dream!"

"I recall you saying that quite clearly." Lady Maria remarked. "After you had tried to chase me off. We fought against each other, and I won." She stopped and sat down on a shaded bench underneath a giant tree. "But, the doll, the girl, and this mysterious Great One? Not a clue. Same with what you were screaming about."

"I heard a voice. It said 'find me at the edge of reality'...or something like that." Katya said. She sat down next to the Hunter. "I felt like I was going insane." She shifted to look at her. "And you kept saying I wasn't meant to be here. So why are you?"

"Hm?"

"If we're not meant to be here, then why are we Hunters getting sent here in the first place?"

Lady Maria was silent. Katya had nothing else to say, as well.

The two quietly spent the time thinking, sitting on the bench in the courtyard. Trying to make any sense of the situation, but failing.

"The colors..." Lady Maria mused quietly.

"Huh? What'd you say?" Katya asked, taken aback by the silence being broken.

"This place is beautiful. It's so full of life, and color." She replied. "It's been a long...long time, since I've seen a place like this."

The gentle sound of laughter came from nearby. Katya looked in the direction of the laugh to find a girl about her age standing nearby, with orangey-blonde hair tied back in a braid, wearing a light red plaid shirt and ripped jeans. But, her eyes were now full of life and curiosity, and there was no sight of the mysterious doll from earlier.

"I was saying that you looked so relaxed, for someone who escaped from the clinic." The girl said. She walked over to Katya and held out her hand. "Arlo and Remington are looking for you now, you know. Do you need help getting back?"

"I can manage on my own, thanks." Katya replied, taking her hand to stand up. "You're...being nice to me, even after what I did?"

"You were just scared, right?" She asked. "You didn't know what was going on." She started to turn around, but stopped. "Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Emily, I live on the farm just outside of town."

"I'm Katya, and this is Maria, another Hunter. I hope we didn't cause too much trouble." Katya replied, motioning to where the Old Hunter was sitting.

" _You_ didn't..." Emily answered, her voice trailing off. "I heard you came suddenly from an entirely different place. Maybe you're still adjusting?"

"What is she talking about?" Lady Maria asked, standing up.

"I don't know, but this is worrying me." Katya replied. "This might explain our missing Great One, though."

Emily tilted her head in confusion. "Great One?" Her eyes widened in shock. "Have...have we met somewhere before?" She took a shaky step back. "That terrible... _thing_...what was it? Is...is it still here?"

"That's what we've been trying to figure out." Lady Maria said, walking towards her. Emily took another step back in fear. "You were right when you said something was wrong. What's happening?"

"Lady Maria, have you interacted with _anybody_ besides me while you've been here?" Katya asked, brushing her aside. "Emily, look at me. I'm going to need you to calm down."

"Katya, answer me. What was that thing we saw?" Emily was getting desperate. "What did it want with me?"

"You think I know everything!?" Katya shouted, clutching Emily's shoulders tightly. "I just arrived a day ago, I've already died, and now I'm seeing things again...!" She let out a shaky sigh, sinking to her knees. "Oh, somebody, take these wretched eyes from me...!"

Emily grabbed Katya's arms, causing her to look up. She slowly straightened up. "I don't understand everything you're talking about, and I'm not sure if I'd want to find out. But, what I do know is, is that this is something that's weighing on you greatly. If you need somebody, anybody to talk to, you can just talk to me. I won't be able to help you in any way, but I can at least give you comfort."

Her startling turn from nervous and frightened to comforting and caring made Katya and Maria eye her nervously.

But she seemed fine as she gently lifted Katya's hands off her shoulders. "You seem to be just fine, but the same applies for you, too." She looked in Maria's direction and gave a soft smile. "Maria, was it? Take good care of Katya, alright?"

She ran off after that, still smiling softly. The two Hunters stood in shocked silence as they watched Emily disappear from view.

"We...we should get back to the clinic for now." Katya whispered. "People are looking for me."

"You can go back." Lady Maria whispered back. "Where was this Great One at before?"

"Near the lantern. You'll know if it's still there." She began to walk away, but stopped. "Oh, and Maria? If this is the work of a Nightmare, stay out of it. It's my prey."

"Very well. Might as well save it for the young and reckless, after all." Lady Maria replied, walking past her, towards the staircase. "You at least have an advantage."

Katya let out a weak smile in reply. As she parted ways with her comrade, she swore that the colors around her felt duller than they normally were.


	4. Inquisitveness Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya explains her findings to the others.

Katya arrived at the clinic to see Arlo, Remington, Dr. Xu, and Phyllis talking.  Another man was with them as well, short and with a concerned expression on his face.  As he spoke, she realized this was one of the other people talking about her the other day.  Gale, was it?

"And you've searched all over?"  He said.  He rubbed one of his temples in frustration.  
  
"Yes, even near the harbor."  Arlo replied.  "There's no sign of her even coming in the first place."  
  
"Such insightfulness is the reason why you're still so blind."  Katya said, closing the door behind her.  "Or, am I invisible now, too?"  
  
The entire conversation stopped.  Phyllis was the first to look up at her.  Slowly, all five of them were giving her their full attention.  
  
"I know.  I worried you, and I'm sorry."  Katya finally said.  "But, it seems that there are...things that are going differently than I imagined.  And I'm not sure if I can explain all of it just yet."  
  
"What can you explain?"  Remington asked.  "Start from there."  
  
"There's something in Portia.  Something that's attracting the allure of Hunters of Yharnam."  Katya began.  "And I need to find it, before anything substantial happens."  
  
"And what would those substantial things be?"  Gale asked.  "Do we need to warn others about this?"  
  
"No!"  This was said immediately, a little too loudly.  Katya cleared her throat.  "It...it wouldn't be advised to.  In fact, this never leaves this room.  Understand?"  Everyone was wary, but agreed.  "I don't know what this thing is, or what it wants.  It could just be a lost Great One, or a wandering beast.  If that's the case, then it should be easy to locate and take out, depending on the type.  This is the outcome that's best.  It could just also be a Hunter looking for a fight, and them being here is causing certain effects.  Or, I could just be going mad.  Those aren't desirable outcomes, but manageable ones."  
  
"Is there a worst case scenario?"  Phyllis asked softly.  
  
Katya was silent before explaining things.  The chill of the glass doors behind her, the gentle drumming of rain on the roof calmed her.  
  
"The absolute worst case scenario is that someone or something has managed to conjure up a Nightmare, and has dragged Portia into it."  She muttered.  "It might still be new, but its effects will be harsh.  It also explains why I was able to come here, and why I can also leave.  But..."  The words couldn't come to her correctly.  "I would need to find both the host and the source of the Nightmare, and end them.  At least, that's how it worked for Yharnam."  
  
As the realization of the last part came over her audience, a hushed panic rippled through them.  
  
"I'll need time to figure out what this is."  Katya finished solemnly.  "But until then, I'll be researching what I can.  And if you could keep my reasons being here private for the most part, that would also be appreciated."  
  
The sound of rain fell over all of them like a heavy static.  Nobody knew what to say.  
  
"I can announce a fireside meeting for the end of this week."  Gale eventually said.  "You could announce Katya as a new member of the Civil Corps."  
  
"That could work, not to mention it'd give us better supervision on her."  Arlo agreed.  "Katya, would you be alright with that?"  
  
"It sounds like a good plan."  Katya replied, nodding.  "And it'd give me something to do.  If this is a Nightmare, who'd know what would happen.  But, I'm going to treat it like this is a Yharnam-like situation.  I'll draw up some diagrams and give them to Lin--to some of the Builders around here.  We're going to need ways of defending ourselves."  
  
"Like what, exactly?"  Remington intervened.  
  
"Nothing too drastic, don't worry."  Katya waved away his concern easily.  "Incense, to ward off beasts from homes.  Torches, possibly, for the same reason.  Maybe something involving bolt-weak creatures, as well.  I'm mainly thinking preventive measures at this point.  If it starts to get worse, then we can arm ourselves.  Speaking of which..."  She turned to Gale.  "Can you give the Research Center permission to give me my weapons back?"  
  
"Oh, of course."  Gale said.  "And if you ever need anything, just ask any one of us."  
  
She turned to look at everyone else.  They gave her approving looks.  She felt the surrounding feelings of hope from all of them.  
  
"Thank you."  Katya finally said.  "I'll do my best to protect everyone."  
  
She let out a soft smile as she said it, feeling renewed by the people around her.  
  
She finally had a purpose.  
***  
  
It was about three in the afternoon when the mayor and Remington left, saying hello to Sam before doing so, as well as explaining the plan to her.  With Xu and Phyllis' permission, Katya and Arlo left the clinic together, her new notebook in hand, to write up diagrams to give to Linda and the other Builders.  
  
"There's a small wooded area just outside this courtyard."  Arlo suggested.  "The foliage's thick enough so that it shouldn't ruin the paper."  
  
"And we shouldn't be bothered by anyone."  Katya added.  She stopped.  Just at the top of the stairs was a small band of messengers, holding a scroll in their arms.  She picked it up, nodding in thanks.  
  
_'Fear Hunter of Hunters, therefore remember secrecy -LM'_  
  
Katya frowned slightly at the note.  She never got the hang of the quick, shorthanded language of Hunters' notes, but this one was odd, to say the least.  The 'Hunter of Hunters' part, she figured was metaphorical.  But, there were so many things that could've meant.  
  
"Katya, are you alright?"  Arlo asked, walking back up the stairs towards her.  "You've been staring into space for a little bit."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  Katya suddenly said, running down the stairs to catch up to him.  
  
He looked at the note in her hands.  "What's that?"  
  
"This?  It's a note a fellow Hunter left me.  She's also looking for answers."  Katya explained.  "But, I don't quite know what it means."  
  
As they walked, Arlo read it over.  
  
"If I had to give it meaning, I'd say maybe keep on your toes."  Arlo explained.  They left town through the wide archway, and headed into a small wooded area.  "You never know who's listening, or who might betray you."  
  
Katya nodded absentmindedly.  The sky was growing even darker than before, despite it not being far at all from the clinic.  A flash of lightning lit up the sky, and thunder rumbled soon after.  
  
The air was thick with apprehension.  
  
Arlo was still talking, though it sounded muffled to Katya's ears.  He said something directly to her, but she couldn't hear it.  Another flash of lightning, the thunder also being heavily muffled.  
  
Katya blinked in confusion, and gasped as the scene around her changed, albeit for a short second.  Rain continued to fall, in thick sheets.  
  
And then, there it was.  The thing she was searching for.  
  
A young girl, about eighteen or nineteen, running down the slopes and hills.  Her breath came out ragged and fast.  Her long black hair billowed out from behind her, thick and glossy.  She wore a long cream dress and a dark burgundy cloak, which she gripped at as she ran.  Her bare feet slipped on the grass, and she clutched her chest, coughing profusely.  
  
Katya looked to Arlo, but he seemed to vanish.  
  
She was alone again.  
  
The girl shakily got up, still clutching her chest and panting heavily.  She pulled the hood of the cloak over her head, strapped the goggles which had been wrapped around her neck onto her head, and began running again, almost seeming to be moving faster than before.  She was saying something, and as Katya tried to decipher what it was, she found her own lips moving in the same formation as the girl's.  
  
"I must...I promised her...I have to find Yharnam.  I must find it...!  I promised...  I promised...  I promised!"  
  
The sky was beginning to be as dark as pitch.  Lightning flickered across the sky, but it didn't deter the girl.  She kept running.  
  
Katya was beginning to grow uneasily anxious, watching her.  Her muscles were screaming to run towards her, the familiar feeling of being in constant danger gnawing at her.  
  
She had felt everything this girl had felt before.  
  
Katya's hands were shaking.  The girl fell again, but didn't seem to get up immediately.  
  
Lightning echoed across the sky, sending the pitch black sky into an eerie haze.  The girl refused to move.  
  
Katya bolted, this time hearing Arlo shout at her, the sound still muffled and...crazed?  Scared?  She wasn't sure of the emotion.  
  
"I promised her I wouldn't give in."  Their words were synced up again.  "But how do I keep going?"  
  
Katya reached the girl, and gasped, backing away as she looked up at her.  The wide, panicked blue-green eyes of the girl bore in hers, her lips unusually red, like they were tinged with blood.  Her skin was slightly pale, but not as pale as Katya's corpse-like demeanor.  It was a pretty sort of fairness, standing out even more with her long black hair draped around her narrow face.  
  
And across her left cheek ran a cut, snow white blood dripping down it.  
  
Katya recognized that scar, that face all too well.  
  
It was slightly more plump than it was now, and her eyes weren't always as large, but she knew it too well for it to be coincidence.  
  
It was her own.  
  
This girl laying on the ground in front of her was Katya herself.  
  
"Tell me, are you Death?"  The two Katyas said, still together.  Tears ran down the younger Katya's face.  "Are you going to take me?  Now, when I have a purpose, a mission at last?  You're cruel.  You let me suffer for so long, only for me to die when I was finally happy, finally in love.  And now, when I still have this one promise to fulfill…"  
  
Katya reached out a hand to her younger self.  Finally speaking alone, she said, "No.  I am not Death.  I am Retribution.  I am Hope.  Keep fighting, keep running.  And whatever you do, don't lose sight of your promise.  Keep her close, and keep her name and identity safe.  Let no one take it from you.  Stay alive.  That's all you have to do.  Just stay alive."  
  
"Katya!"  Arlo cried out.  He ran towards her, breathless.  "What happened?  Why'd you bolt off like that?"  
  
"I..."  Katya began this, then turned around to where her younger self was.  She was gone, with no trace of her ever existing.  "I thought I saw something."  
  
"You were staring off into space, not responding to anything."  He explained.  "I thought you were having an attack of some kind."  
  
"It's not uncommon for Hunters like me to see strange things."  Katya replied as they made their way back to the wooded area they were at before.  "I guess it just comes with the territory.  We see things others aren't able to.  I believe these were referred to as our 'eyes in the mind' in Bergenwerth."  
  
"And what did you see?"  Arlo asked.  
  
Katya didn't respond.  
  
She herself didn't know.  
***  
  
The rest of the day was spent without incident, creating and testing different ways of making incense.  It was relaxing, sitting in the rain and mixing different ingredients together.  
  
The two sat under a large tree, watching small ribbons of smoke rise from the beak of Katya's mask in silence.  A positively sweet, soporific scent filled the air, a scent of chamomile, pine, and bergamot.  
  
"Rainy days like this are so calming."  Katya remarked.  "Afternoons like these make me almost miss my pipe.  Lavender's a good choice, on rainy days.  I dropped it, or it broke, something to that effect.  Either way, it's lost to beasts now."  
  
"I never would've figured you were one to own a pipe."  Arlo replied.  "Most people around the Free Cities don't really smoke, anyway."  
  
"Well, we each have our vices."  Katya said.  "Hunters are no exception, though I had it for a while before Yharnam.  And I never did tobacco or anything like that, mind.  Lavender, as mentioned before, mugwort, and damiana, if I was in the right sort of mood.  Things like that, not for the high, just for enjoyment.  Though, I mostly used herbs for tea, actually.  It was nice to brew a cup or pot for my particular needs."  
  
"You're quite knowledgeable on the subject."  Arlo seemed impressed.  
  
"I know my way around an herb garden."  
  
They laughed softly.  
  
"So, I have to ask."  Arlo said after a while.  "How did you end up in such a place as Yharnam, doing such a horrifying sounding job as hunting beasts?"  
  
Katya was silent for a moment before speaking again.  "I don't remember the specifics too well.  What I do remember, though, is being terribly ill for several months.  After collapsing one too many times, I was admitted to a local hospital.  The doctors said it was a rare disease called Paleblood, that there was no cure, and I would last the rest of the year at most.  And somehow, I heard about the Healing Church, and their miraculous blood healing.  So, I ran away to find Yharnam to get cured."  
  
"But, that doesn't explain becoming a Hunter."  Arlo said.  
  
"In order to get the transfusion needed for curing my disease, I had to make a contract."  Katya explained further.  "And once I signed that contract, I sold my soul to hunting, and my mind to the Night."  She let out a cynical smile.  "Everything but my body belongs to somebody else."  
  
Arlo was silent this time.  
  
Katya said nothing else, just watched the rain pour down.  
  
Nothing else needed to be said.  
***  
  
It was late by the time Katya decided to go back.  Despite the foliage of the trees keeping off most of the rain, some still dripped down onto them, not to mention Katya's frantic run and her searching for Lady Maria left her drenched in rainwater for the majority of the day.  
  
She wouldn't mention it unless absolutely needed, but she was _freezing_ .  But, there was something about the chill that was somehow relaxing to her.  Perhaps it was the focus on trying to block it out, the sharpening of her senses in the struggle between her body and the elements.  
  
"Before you go, we should at least get something to eat."  Arlo said, standing up.  He stretched and beckoned for her to follow.  "This way.  I'll take you over to Django's."  
  
It was quite a walk over, but they eventually arrived at a small yellow building entitled 'The Round Table'.  They hurried inside, glad for the warmth of the fire inside.  
  
"Oh, hey Arlo."  A young woman with bobbed hair said, walking towards them.  "The usual spot?"  She looked over at Katya.  "Oh, hi.  You must be the new girl.  Welcome to The Round Table.  You can hang your stuff up on those hooks near the door, if you want."  
  
"Thanks."  Katya muttered in reply.  She figured others would eventually know, but it still felt sudden.  She hung up her cape, dripping with rainwater, and followed Arlo to a small booth near the back of the restaurant.  They sat in silence across from each other for a couple moments.  
  
"Oh, hey, Arlo!"  A cheerful voice said.  Katya looked up from her blank staring at the placemat to see Emily standing next to their table.  "And Katya's here, too.  Um, is it alright if I join you two?"  
  
"I don't mind, myself."  Arlo replied.  He placed his menu on the table in acknowledgement.  "When did you meet Katya?"  
  
"Just this afternoon, before I got to the clinic."  Katya answered, scooting further into the booth.  Emily sat down next to her.  They both grabbed menus and began perusing.  "What made you want to join us?"  
  
"Antoine's busy working still, and I didn't want to sit my own."  Emily replied.  She leaned in closer to Katya.  "And I wanted to talk to you about something.  Before you go back to the clinic."  She leaned back.  "So, what're you thinking of getting?"  
  
Katya stared at the menu again.  She hadn't thought about it in the slightest, she'd just been flipping through it blankly.  
  
"What do you two recommend?"  She asked.  "Although, I'm not too terribly hungry..."  
  
Her stomach rumbled in protest at those words.  It was almost like a spell had broken.  Food, food sounded good right about now.  Blood and adrenaline could only have taken her so far, after all.  She _was_ still human, after all, and humans need to eat to survive.  
  
She was still human, wasn't she?  
  
"Everything's pretty good here."  Emily said, letting out a soft laugh.  "Django's a really good cook.  Just go with whatever sounds nice."  
  
Once the girl with the bobbed hair--Emily had called her Sonia--came back to take their orders, Katya was still looking through the menu.  
  
"Do you need more time, uh..."  Sonia's voice trailed off.  
  
"You can call me Katya."  Katya quickly said, pulled out of her browsing.  "I'll take a meat and mushroom stew.  And a pot of tea."  She looked to the other two sitting at her table.  "Do you mind that I ordered drinks for everyone?"  
  
"Not at all, you're fine."  Emily reassured.  "Tea really is nice on a rainy day like this, after all."  
  
"As long as you're fine with what you're getting, we don't mind at all."  Arlo added.  
  
"You're all so trusting..."  Katya muttered softly.  Emily looked at her curiously, but she didn't say anything more.  At a normal volume, Katya said to Arlo, "Thanks for taking me here, by the way.  You didn't have to."  
  
"Well, it's what friends do, isn't it?"  Arlo asked.  "We watch out for each other, and all that."  
  
"But we just met..."  Katya found herself looking down at the table again.  "I attempted to kill you, and you're saying we're friends?"  
  
"Not exactly, but who says there isn't room to grow?"  Arlo pondered.  "And besides, it would seem to me like you'd want somebody to call a friend.  You were talkative earlier, but now you have your guard up."  
  
"I...I don't..."  Katya was flustered.  "I-I have friends!"  She stopped.  "Well, I kind of did..."  
  
"Don't worry, Arlo's just teasing."  Emily explained through fits of laughter.  "Though I will say, it's funny watching you express such strong emotions like that.  You don't seem like the type to embarrass easily."  
  
Katya felt her face grow hot, but let out a small chuckle of her own.  "I don't, do I?"  
  
"But, on a more serious note, why do you keep your feelings bottled up like that?"  Emily asked.  "It doesn't seem like a nice way to live..."  She threw her hands up in apology after asking.  "Sorry, sorry, I really shouldn't pry like that!"  
  
"No, it's fine."  Katya replied.  "It's kind of something that developed from hunting.  You can't really let your feelings get in the way, or else you're just going to feel sorry for yourself and the beasts you're killing.  Either that, or you just go insane from it all.  So, it's easiest to just distance yourself from it all.  A shame I couldn't have done that for Eileen...and Gascoigne's girls..."  
  
Silence fell over the table.  
  
"That's...really depressing."  Arlo remarked.  "I'm sorry you had to go through all that."  
  
"Don't be.  It's my guilt that I have to deal with, and my scores to settle."  Katya said.  "Besides, it's already done.  I can't exactly go back and undo it, after all.  I'll learn to live with it.  Eventually."  
  
"That's not...  You can't just do that."  Arlo replied.  "That's not living.  It's not right!"  
  
"You think I _care_ about living?"  Katya protested.  "The only reason why I'm here is because I made some stupid promise to someone I don't even remember!  And given how many things I've been forced to do just to survive, I don't deserve to be here right now!"  
  
The entire restaurant was silent.  The hammering of the rain on the roof was unbearable.  Katya was shaking.  
  
She quickly brushed past Emily and ran out without another word.  Everyone was still silent, but after a little while, returned to their meals and conversation, in a hushed, solemn tone.  
  
Emily silently got up, as well, not making eye contact with Arlo as she did so.  
  
There was truly nothing to be said in that moment.


	5. Visions of the Ocean and Dreams of the Known but Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to comfort Katya, Emily awakens something from within both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a small section in this chapter that talks about suicidal thoughts and actions. Please take this into consideration as you proceed.

Emily ran out of The Round Table to find Katya leaning on the side of the restaurant wall, hunched over and shaking violently.  One hand wrapped around her side tightly, as if in pain, and the other hand was in a strange position around her neck, pointer finger hooked downwards and her thumb to the side.

Almost as if she was holding something.  
  
Emily began walking towards her, but stopped.  She didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do.  Just as she was about to go back inside, Katya raised her head and turned around.  Her eyes shown with something Emily didn't recognize, sympathy, remorse?  But, it was something further than that, something just out of her reach.  
  
Almost like the depth of the emotion would be too much for her to comprehend.  
  
Katya held out her hand, slowly, almost as if she was afraid of Emily's reaction.  She seemed to be pulled in by the Hunter's presence, slowly walking towards her and gently taking her hand.  
  
Katya pulled her into her arms in an instant, taking Emily by surprise.  She held her tight, softly stroking her hair and humming something.  While it eased her, the song pulled at something, a feeling that she never knew existed, but didn't what it was, either.  
  
The song echoed in her head as a music box tune, a soothing song that washed away any anxiety she had.  All previous thoughts were gone, all senses dulled.  
  
Emily closed her eyes as the song continued on, lulling her sleep.  
***  
  
Emily was falling.  
  
Deeper and deeper, from the light on the surface.  
  
But all she could do was simply drift further away from the light that glistened so.  
  
Further into the depths that called her, that beckoned for her.  
  
She belonged in that dark, murky water, didn't she?  
  
The beautiful depths continued calling her name, wanting her closer.  
  
And then, another voice.  Clearer, patient.  
  
Emily looked up and saw something falling towards her, perfectly aligned with her outstretched hand.  
  
A...crystal?  
  
The crystal shone with light, and as Emily brought her hand closer to her face, it seemed to levitate in her palm.  The light pulsed in the darkness of the depths, even as she continued sinking lower.  Something shone within the crystal, something Emily couldn't quite see.  
  
Suddenly, the crystal gave off a bright light, illuminating the dark of the ocean.  Emily turned to see something coming towards her, a thing that repulsed, intrigued, and frightened her all at once.  Strange whispers filled her head, and as the light overtook her vision, she only let out one word in response.  
  
"Kosm!"  
***  
  
Emily woke with a gasp to find her and Katya shrouded in a large veil of water, hovering a few inches in the air.  Katya's body was cast in a strange blue glow, her eyes appearing to have stars floating in them.  Her long black hair surrounded them like a mass of tendrils or tentacles, wrapping themselves around Emily's arms and legs, while Katya's face was buried in the crook of Emily's neck, holding her left hand at arm's length, while her right was tangled in her hair, just at the base of her neck.  
  
"Katya, what's going on?!"  Emily asked, panicked.  Despite the water around her, and the bubbles that left her mouth as she spoke, Emily found it easy to talk and breathe.  "Answer me, please!"  As she struggled to get away, Katya held the grip she had around her waist tighter.  
  
She was unresponsive.  The veil that formed around them grew into a small bubble, and Katya held Emily tighter as pitch black wings grew from her back, and blue glowing horns jutted from the side of her head, growing backwards, her hair getting caught and tangled by them.  
  
"Katya, answer me!"  Emily shouted.  "Why are you doing this?  What's happening!?"  
  
Katya lifted her head and brushed back some of Emily's hair.  She could now see that a glowing blue collar hung around Katya's neck, a long chain on the end of it.  
  
Katya smiled softly as the bubble became charged with electricity.  "Because you're mine.  You said it yourself, didn't you, Beatrice?"  
  
Before Emily could react, the bubble burst, and the two of them took off into the air, Emily screaming as hard as she could.  
  
"This pitiful world created its own destruction."  Katya said as they hovered over the town.  "Don't you agree, Beatrice?  But, we could rebuild it.  Reshape humanity into a truly wonderful existence!"  
  
"You wouldn't."  Emily replied.  "You can't!  I won't let you!"  
  
As Emily's left hand, which had been closed into a fist, opened, she saw the crystal from her dream fall from her hand and to the ground below.  
  
Katya took one look at the shining crystal, then dived down towards it, clutching Emily with such ferocity, she thought Katya would tear her skin open.  
  
Just before she could reach it, however, it bounced off the head of the Peach statue, and the reverberations echoed into a sonic blast, the statue crumbling beneath it and getting replaced by a large column of crystal.  Cracks quickly formed in the cobblestone and the walls of the gate and the buildings, windows shattering, and doors getting blown off their hinges.  
  
Katya dropped Emily, who bounced along the cobblestone and stopping in front of the Commerce Guild building's steps.  Katya herself was flung directly into said building, landing on the steps.  Emily looked to see that she looked how she did before, but with stars woven into her hair, and crystals dug into her right arm.  Blood ran down the steps, Katya clearly unconscious.  
  
There was a loud commotion as people came to see what the explosion was all about.  Shouting for the doctor, tending to their needs.  Emily looked down and saw blood streaming from the side of her head, and felt it seep into her clothes.  
  
Stay awake, somebody said.  She couldn't tell who.  More shouting.  Can't treat these wounds.  Tody was called out.  Lucien.  
  
They were going to Lucien?  
  
Look at me.  At who?  It hurt to focus.  Desperate shouts.  Angry questions.  
  
I told everybody that she was dangerous, somebody said.  Not to be trusted, was said by somebody else.  
  
She was tired.  She wanted to close her eyes.  
  
More voices, more things to listen to.  It hurt so much.  
  
Sleep.  That's all she wanted.  
  
And so, humming that strange lullaby, the Great One's song of slumber, she closed her eyes and drifted off.  
  
_Great One...?  How...?  
  
_ And all thought stopped at that.  
***  
  
The fog enveloped everything around the girl as she ran.  She didn't know where to, just that she needed to get away, far away from this wretched place.  
  
She held the chain attached to her collar with a vice grip, to keep it from making noise.  She brushed a few strands of short black hair from her forehead as she slowed and looked around.  
  
The place seemed to be deserted, and the fog seemed to be clearing.  The girl tried to look around some more, but it was still hazy.  She still couldn't tell where she was.  
  
A loud noise came from above, and a large form of some sort jumped down onto the ground in front of her.  It appeared to be a large bird-like thing, wielding six sharply curved blades in its hands.  The girl fell to the ground, unable to tear her eyes from it.  
  
The thing slowly lumbered towards her, letting out a series of hisses and clicks.  After some attempts, she could hear the words it was trying to say.  
  
" _Mergo, my child._ "  It said, raising a blade almost like how would raise a hand to a child's face to soothe it.  " _You've come back, after so long.  Where have you been, my child?_ "  
  
The girl was silent, slowly trying to crawl away from the monstrous thing.  It only kept its slow, agonizing pace, still having it blade extended to her.  
  
Just as the thing was about to reach her, something ran across a nearby ledge and jumped down on top of it, two blades piercing the hood.  The thing screamed out as the attacker was flung off, but they landed and quickstepped in, attacking it valiantly.  The thing jumped to the side and spun around, holding its blades out to catch the assailant, but they again dodged out of the way and attacked it again.  Within a few hits, it crumbled and fell to dust.  
  
The attacker turned towards the girl, panting heavily.  "That...was too close."  The girl stood cautiously as she saw them.  By their voice and build, they were female.  They wore a crow mask, obstructing their face, and their cape appeared to be feathered, as well.  "Come with me.  It's not safe here."  
  
The crow woman beckoned for the girl to follow, and when she hesitated, the woman turned to face her.  "Well, do you want the real Nightmare showing up?  Hurry, and stay by my side."  
  
The two walked briskly through the fog filled area until it started getting less dense again.  The crow woman pushed open a small gate, where a small workshop-type building sat amongst asphodel flowers.  A tall woman with short white hair walked down the path towards them, wearing a long dress and bonnet.  
  
"Oh, Eileen, you've returned."  She said, running towards them.  "We thought you had gotten lost."  
  
The crow woman, Eileen, shrugged her shoulders dismissively.  "Well, I might not have, but I did find this poor lark.  Almost got herself killed by whatever's out there."  
  
"By your attire, it's safe to assume you're not a Hunter."  The other woman mused, looking at the girl curiously.  As she brought her hands to her face, she could see that it made of doll-like joints and ligaments.  "What's your name, my dear?"  
  
The girl shook her head.  "I...I don't...I don't remember."  She looked at the ground in shame.  "That thing called me Mergo, if that helps at all."  
  
The Doll tilted her head slightly at the name, but didn't say anything.  Rather, she walked up to the girl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"You're freezing cold."  She remarked.  "Come inside, and sit by the fire for a while.  You're safe here."  
  
The girl nodded, and followed her inside the Workshop, a cozy building filled to the brim with books, and some workstations of some kind pushed against the walls.  As she walked in, she noticed somebody in the middle of the Workshop, standing with their back turned to them.  
  
"Oh, are you with--?"  The girl began to ask, but stopped when she realized that she no longer felt the reassurance of the Doll's hand on their shoulder.  There was no sign of both the Doll and Eileen.  "Who are you?"  
  
They were another girl, about her age.  She wore a simple looking pale pink dress with flared out at the skirt, and had gorgeous, long auburn hair.  A wide brimmed sunhat was clutched in their hands, but she was barefoot.  
  
The girl laughed softly at her question.  "Oh, Katya.  You haven't forgotten me, have you?"  
  
The soft, pale moonlight from outside the Workshop turned a harsh blood red.  
  
"I hope you haven't."  The girl continued, oblivious to the change of scenery.  "And our promise.  Do you remember what you promised me, Katya?"  
  
Katya was silent.  
  
"I suppose you don't."  The girl finally said.  
  
"Beatrice."  Katya blurted out.  The girl looked up.  "That's all I remember.  Is your name."  
  
"Well, we can start there."  Beatrice said.  Katya could hear the smile in her voice, just like before.  
  
Before...?  Before what?  
  
"Don't worry, my dear."  Beatrice added lovingly, turning around.  Everything started fading away from view.  "I shall make you mine again.  That shall be my promise to you."  
***  
  
A clear autumn sunset greeted Katya as she stepped onto the roof of the hospital.  Warm, sweet smelling wind blew gently to the side, sending the skirt of her uniform to dance along the breeze.  
  
If she was younger, she would've snuck up here for the view.  
  
That same view was just tiring to her now.  
  
She looked around, one last time.  No clouds to obscure the sun.  The sun itself at such a point that it would block her body from view at just the right amount of time.  The irony of the hospital building.  The innocence of a school uniform.  
  
Art created by spite, so that the world would be beautiful when someone so unloved and hated drew their last breath.  
  
"If you wish to throw your life away, I would like to suggest an alternative."  
  
The man's words cut through the still air sharply.  Katya, standing on the ledge with arms outstretched horizontally, looked at him and put her arms down, grabbing the guardrail.  
  
"Don't lecture me."  She said coldly, her pixie cut hair blowing in the breeze.  "I've made up my mind already.  Nothing's going to change that."  
  
"People like you are rare."  The man continued, as if he hadn't heard her.  "And if you don't care as to if you live or die, it makes it even better."  
  
"What are you suggesting?"  Katya asked.  
  
The man let out a soft chuckle.  "I've watched you climb up to this roof for the past two weeks.  And for those fourteen days, any of those times you could've left.  Yet, you kept muttering about aesthetic, about atmosphere.  Even now, I could see you trembling as you climbed under the fence, and you never even had to pay attention me once since I've started talking.  You're stalling, aren't you?"  
  
Katya's hand clenched the railing a little tighter at that accusation, but she said nothing.  The sun dipped low below the skyline.  The moment was gone.  She dipped under the railing and off the ledge.  
  
"Do you, by any chance, have a fear of death?"  The man asked.  Katya was still silent.  He held out a small card.  "If you wish to toss aside your life, call this number, and wait at the airport at midnight for me.  Bring nothing of value with you."  
  
"Why the airport?"  Katya finally asked.  
  
"It's the best way to reach Seesai."  The man replied simply, and walked away.  "Give it some thought, and if you end up throwing the card away, I won't mind that either.  Although, I do hope you find a way out of your predicament that doesn't involve falling off of buildings or my line of work.  I mean that genuinely."  
  
Katya looked at the card, which just listed a number and the instructions he said.  She shoved it in her skirt pocket and gathered her things.  
  
"I'm stalling, he says..."  She muttered.  She turned and left, slinking through the hospital and through the back door.  "Maybe I am, but..."  
***  
  
Emily woke up in a hospital bed, bandages wrapped around her head and arms.  A nurse walked in and smiled at her conscious face.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  He asked, walking towards her.  "Can you answer some questions for me?"  
  
Her name, her date of birth, where she was from.  It still felt fuzzy, and she was still quite tired, but overall, fine.  
  
"Where's Katya?"  Emily asked.  The nurse looked confused.  "The other girl who came in with me.  Where is she?"  
  
The nurse wore a pained expression as she clarified.  "Ah, her.  Still unconscious, I think.  Though, I thought I heard shouting coming from her room one night.  We did move her out of the ICU, though."  
  
"How long have been here?"  Emily asked.  "Wait, she was in the ICU?!"  
  
"Please, keep your voice down."  The nurse replied.  "And yes, she was.  Her injuries were quite severe, after all.  It's been about three or four days now, I believe?  Oh, I'd better get Dr. Xu and tell them you're awake."  
  
"Wait, before you go."  Emily grabbed the nurse's wrist.  "Can you take me to her?"  
***  
  
Katya looked paler than she normally did.  
  
Her long black hair flowed around rhythmically, almost as if she had been falling.  Although the crystals embedded in her skin were gone, by the numerous wrappings of gauze around her arm, pale blue stardust still clung to the ends of her hair.  
  
"She looks so peaceful like that, doesn't she?"  
  
Emily turned to see Sam standing nearby, looking out the window.  
  
"Sam, how's your injury holding up?"  Emily asked.  "Uh, when did you get here?"  
  
"Shortly after you guys were taken.  Couldn't exactly leave a patient alone, can you?"  Sam replied, smiling softly.  "And I'm alright, thanks for asking.  Takes more than an axe to the side to keep me down!"  
  
Emily let out a soft laugh.  "I'm glad to hear that.  This week's been a real mess, hasn't it?"  
  
"I suppose it has been.  But it's things like these that keep us on our toes."  Sam walked over to where Katya was lying.  "I just wonder, though...just what is this Yharnam place she's from?"  Katya stirred slightly, almost as though she heard the dreaded town's name.  "She's been still for the longest time.  Maybe's she having a bad dream."  She let out a soft laugh.  "I wonder what she's dreaming about?"  
  
Emily thought back to the visions of the sea and the thing she called 'Kosm'.  "I wonder, too..."  She looked back at Katya again, at her flowing hair of stardust.  "Has her hair been doing this the whole time?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  Sam asked, confused.  
  
"There's stars in her hair..."  Emily remarked softly.  "It's like she's becoming a part of the cosmos..."  Sam was silent, contemplating, finding the right words to use.  "Never mind, maybe I'm just seeing things.  I did just wake up, after all."  
  
_We never did get to talk, after all.  I wanted to ask her about this...  
  
_ Sam looked slightly concerned, but still said nothing.  
  
Emily backed up slightly from Katya's bed.  "Well, I'll leave you two to get some rest.  I'm just down the hall if you want to visit."  
  
"I can push you, if you want."  Sam replied, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair.  "It'd be good exercise for me, too."  
  
Before Emily could respond, there was a soft knock at the door.  Phyllis, Dr. Xu, and Gale filed into the room.  
  
"We heard from the nurses that you've woken up."  Gale explained.  "How are you doing?"  
  
"Do you remember what exactly happened to cause the explosion?"  Xu asked.  "Several people said that they heard you screaming."  
  
Emily was silent.  She remembered it well, too well.  But...  
  
"If I told you, you'd think I've gone insane."  She said quietly.  "I've been seeing things that others can't, things that I feel like I shouldn't say.  If she feels like she should tell you, I think it'd be best to ask Katya about it once she wakes up."  
  
"Very well, then."  Xu replied.  "We won't pry, if that's how you feel about it.  Speaking of Katya, I'm supposed to be meeting up with a couple doctors who wanted to know a couple things about her.  Something about bloodwork, I think.  But, if you know anything more, since you two were last seen together and you've seemed to earned her trust well enough, don't hesitate to tell me."  
  
"Bloodwork seems like a really specific topic they want to know about."  Sam remarked.  "But then again, she must've lost quite a bit of blood in the accident."  She nodded towards the half full bag hanging above her bed.  "But, they've been taking quite a bit of it, too."  
  
"Why would they do such a thing?"  
  
The room was silent.  Katya slowly and tiredly sat up.  
  
"Hey."  She said wearily.  "I asked a question, right?"  
  
"We're just glad to see you awake."  Sam replied.  "How are you?"  
  
Katya shrugged.  "Sluggish, but alright."  She looked at the IV in her arm, then up to the blood bag connected to it.  "And I think I've figured out why..."  She turned back to face Phyllis, who gasped in shock.  "What?"  
  
"Your eyes...they weren't red before, were they?"  Phyllis asked.  She tilted Katya's head up to get a better look at them.  "Doctor, come take a look at this."  
  
Dr. Xu looked puzzled.  "It doesn't appear to be related to trauma of any kind, her irises are just red."  He turned back to Emily.  "I know you didn't want to talk about what happened, but if you give us some details, at least..."  
  
"Her eyes weren't red when I saw them."  Emily answered.  "They were this...strange, glowing light blue color.  And she didn't seem like herself.  Like she was possessed or something.."  
  
"I lost control again."  Katya said quietly.  "The old man was right, I am dangerous when using magic..."  She looked up again.  "Emily, you still have that crystal, right?"  
  
"Huh?"  Emily was confused, but shuffled through the pockets of the sweater she was wearing.  The crystal she found in her dream floated gently in her palm, no longer glowing, but still felt like it held something within it.  
  
"Give it here.  I'll use it to better explain things."  Katya held out her hand.  "This is a special rock that is formed at high levels of arcane energy.  If one has arcane potential, then they could shape and manipulate it to whatever they need.  Say, for example, a Hunter is chasing you down.  If you have enough power, you could hurl a whole bunch at them in a homing attack.  Or, you could just take this crystal and shape into something, like a flower, for a less...extreme example."  
  
"Can you do that?"  Sam asked.  
  
"No, though not because I don't have any magic, of course."  Katya cautiously explained.  "I actually have too much to control."  
  
"Too much?"  Emily echoed.  "How can you have too much magic?"  
  
"Even when I was young, I could see things that others couldn't."  Katya answered.  "Fairies and spirits, things like that.  I think I even managed to manipulate some things on my own.  But, it was because of that, and nobody knowing about my powers, that they went unchecked.  Gehrman once said to me that if I had undergone proper training, I would've been a really fearsome mage.  But instead, I just ended up being this...pool of magic.  So, when I find myself surrounded by it, or when I do an intense spell of some kind, it's not uncommon for me to just lose control.  But this...this was different."  
  
"Because of your eyes changing color?"  Sam guessed.  
  
"Not just that."  Katya replied.  "Because you haven't been exposed to what I've been through, and you remain blind, you can't see it, but my hair has stardust on the ends of it and it's floating.  It's never done that before.  And, I can hear things.  Whispers of old souls, but the words aren't quite clear.   Part of me, though, is suspecting that my absence in Yharnam is to blame, though.  When I contracted Paleblood, those old powers of mine faded, and when I got to Yharnam, they disappeared entirely.  Well, until..."  
  
She was silent for a moment, focusing on the crystal in her hand.  
  
"I can see what your hair's doing."  Emily replied quietly.  "But I think I'm the only one here who can.  Does this have something to do with Kosm?"  
  
"Most say Kos, but I'm sure it does."  Katya answered this absentmindedly.  She had a far off look in her eyes, and her voice changed to one a little smoother, a person a lot more comfortable with her surroundings.  "So, you've seen what Mensis has been doing as well?  Good on you for keeping your sanity through it.  Most I've met haven't."  She stopped, realizing what she had just said.  Instantly, she changed back into what the others knew her as, her eyes in a stern expression as she stared straight at Emily.  "You're not a Hunter.  How do you know about Kos?"


	6. Drowning in Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation causes Katya to snap.

"Hey, Gehrman."  Katya asked, looking up from her book.  "Could you maybe teach me how to do magic?"  
  
The Old Hunter looked confused at her request as he turned around.  "Why would you want me to do that?"  
  
"I feel like I got the basis of it, but there's something...else."  She tried to find the proper words to explain it.  "Like, something's there that shouldn't be.  I was thinking that maybe I just needed some more training, and these old books can only get me so far.  So, can you train me a little in using magic properly?"  
  
After a little more convincing, he finally agreed.  Katya stood outside the Workshop while the Doll got Gehrman, holding a small crystal of some kind in his hand.  
  
"A simple exercise."  He explained.  "Take this crystal, and shape it into a flower.  Envision it in your head.  It's best to use one that has a lot of attachment, so whatever your favorite flower is."  He tossed it to her, and it levitated in her palm.  
  
Katya nodded, and closed her eyes, feeling the arcane energy flow through her.  This was always a rush to her, but she needed to focus.  
  
_A favorite flower..._   There were none that stood out to her in particular.  But then again, she barely knew anything about herself in the first place.  
  
She felt her hair flow around her, being picked up in the flood of energy.  A memory emerged.  
  
Daffodils.  
  
A small field of daffodils flooded her sight as the sky shone a bright blue.  Tulips of different colors stuck out between some of the bright yellow flowers.  A clearing in the middle of the woods.  
  
The warm spring air felt so relaxing.  All she wanted to do was lay in the flower field and sleep.  But, considering the nearby rings of mushrooms and how the moss hung from the trees, it probably was best not to.  
  
Didn't she have work here to do?  She couldn't remember.  
  
A sweet scent blew through the clearing, a lovely song sung.  She wanted to dance along, forget everything that had happened to her.  
  
Just dance with the wind, and follow the path of flowers...  
  
Katya was jolted out of the forest by Gehrman knocking the crystal out of her hands, almost in desperation.  He stepped away as she floated gently back to the ground, the arcane energy around her slowly dying down.  It wasn't until she heard the sound of something crunching beneath her boots that she looked around.  
  
The pathway around them was covered in crystal daffodils and tulips.  Glowing blue vines grew around her chest, neck, and arms, blooming with evening primrose and ivy leaves.  Dew drops were circling her head like a wreath, and woven into her hair.  Gehrman's chair and even the Doll were covered in the same things, one of her eyes covered by a primrose and her bonnet encircled by ivy.  
  
Gehrman grabbed Katya by her collar, startling her.  "What are you?  You can't be human.  No human should have a power such as this...!"  
  
The Doll writhed with worry, trapped in crystal vines.  "Gehrman, stop!  The Good Hunter did nothing wrong."  
  
He stopped, then let her go, sitting back down.  "We'll take care of this.  You've done enough damage here."  He began tearing vines and flowers off his wheelchair.  "Return to your Hunt.  And try not to use much magic again.  Who knows what might happen if you do."  
  
Katya looked concerned, but simply nodded her head and left.  
  
She did have a job to do, after all.  
***  
  
The door to Sam and Katya's room opened, leaving all conversation to be done at another time.  A small group of doctors walked in, curious about something.  
  
"Oh, Emily, want me to show you the conservatory?"  Sam asked.  Her tone seemed oddly chipper, especially given the context regarding the previous conversation.  "You're probably wanting something close to fresh air after being inside for so long."  
  
"That sounds lovely."  Emily replied.  "Let's go."  
  
Gale, as well, followed them out, knowing the conversation to follow to be private.  As the door closed behind them, the most studious of the group, a woman with short gray hair but a stern, young face, turned to Dr. Xu.  
  
"So, this is the mysterious outsider?"  She asked.  Katya turned and gave her a harsh glare, but kept quiet.  "Have you been able to find out any information at all about this Yharnam place?"  
  
"No, nothing."  Xu replied.  "I even asked my mentor in Seesai.  He didn't know of any place like that, either."  
  
"Why are you actively trying to find Yharnam?"  Katya asked.  
  
"I'm a hematologist."  The doctor explained patiently.  "And naturally, when you came in, you needed an emergency blood transfusion because of how much you lost.  And when we took your blood to determine your type, we found it to be...abnormal.  Highly so."  
  
Katya was silent.  She kept a steady glare on her, fingers twitching in anticipation.  
  
"Your blood was contaminated with something we've never seen the likes of before.  We don't even have records of this from we salvaged from the Age of Corruption."  She went on.  "So, what is Yharnam?  Is it some code word?  A testing facility?"  
  
"Are you saying I'm some sort of weapon?"  Katya finally cut in.  "I'm not.  Listen, without that blood, I'd be dead by now.  I don't completely understand myself, and if I think I did, I'd be insane.  All I know is..."  She stopped.  A horrid thought started to form.  
  
"What is it?"  Phyllis asked from her sequestered corner of the room.  
  
"She had been trapped down there, the whole time..."  Katya whispered.  "And of course, the Church just used her, she whispered secrets of unimaginable power to them.  But, which one?  Who did they use for their blood?  Ebrietas was left for so long, yet...  No, it couldn't have been her blood.  It couldn't have been..."  She didn't notice her hair flying about her faster as she spoke.  "Why is she trying to contact somebody?  What does she want?  Freedom?  Chaos?  Why is she...?"  
  
The ancient whispers started up again, overlapping and clamoring to be heard, until they converged into one.  
  
_Behind...!  Evil, behind!  Guard, evil!_  
  
Katya snapped up as a fellow doctor was about to adjust something on her IV drip.  She quickly grabbed his wrist, a clearly audible crack coming from him.  His face contorted horribly in pain as she let him go and he fell to the floor.  Nebulae swirled in her blood red eyes as she bore down the horrified hematologist.  
  
"Don't try to control me."  She hissed.  "Leave the removal of eyes to the Brainsuckers, and the shedding of blood to the addled Hunters."  She let out a shriek-like laugh.  "Ah, this world shall be...invigorating to bring to its knees, don't you think so, Mother?"  
  
Waves of energy and magic flooded off of Katya as she gently got out of her bed, levitating off the ground.  Everyone in the room was silent, terrified of angering her.  Katya walked up to the hematologist, unfazed.  
  
"Now, what to do with you?"  She pondered, walking around her.  "She has our blood.  We could always...test things.  And having a scientist like her on our side could always make things easier."  
  
The hematologist stiffened, then crumpled to the ground.  "Please, don't use me that way.  I'd rather die to your hands than corrupt innocent sick people!  Just please, don't...don't use me for whatever you're planning...!"  
  
A sadistic grin spread across Katya's face as she tilted the scientist's head up.  "Then, so be it."  
  
Just as she was about to grab her, a series of four small crystals honed in on Katya.  They landed on her legs and neck, bringing her to her knees.  She bent up to see Emily running towards her, calling her name.  
  
"A...phoenix?"  
  
Emily grabbed Katya's hands, floating in the air above her.  She looked up at her with a mildly curious glance, unsure of how to react outside of those two hoarsely whispered words.  
  
The ground cracked beneath them, then fell apart completely, revealing a pool of thick black water.  A black fog rose from the waves, like a putrid miasma, covering everything in the room with it.  Everyone but Katya and Emily fell to their knees in pain, crying and screaming out as it filled their lungs.  Katya placed Emily's hands on her shoulders while she cupped the girl's face, bringing her closer to her.  
  
The water reached up and grabbed hold of Katya's arms, then swiftly pulled both of them down into it.  There was a terrible squelching sound as the sludge-like water swallowed them, sending it streaking across the floor.  
  
And like that, they were gone, sunken into the waves.  
  
The distortion in the air caused by the sudden influx of magic soon died down, causing the room to return to normal.  Sam rushed back in, confused by what happened.  
  
"Where'd they go?"  Sam asked, looking around the room.  "Emily was saying something about Katya snapping, and returning to somewhere...she wasn't making sense.  But, where are they...?"  
  
The room was deathly quiet.  
  
Nothing was conveyed of what happened in those grisly, fleeting, insane moments.  
***  
  
Katya slowly opened her eyes to find herself laying in a soft, lush canopy bed covered in light pink bedsheets.  She sat up slowly, unsure.  
  
The room had a pastel motif to it, mainly with pinks and whites, but splashes of pale yellow and mint green from the pillows on the bed and miscellaneous clutter on the dresser and walls helped from it being overwhelming.  It felt odd, being in a place as beautiful as this.  
  
Katya moved the billowy white curtain of the canopy away to find somebody sitting at the vanity nearby.  Beatrice, she realized.  
  
"It's nice to see you again."  Beatrice said, getting up.  "Oh, how I've missed you, my darling Katya."  She gently pushed her back onto the bed, laughing and pinning her down with one arm on her torso.  
  
"Beatrice, I..."  Katya replied.  "How did I get here?  I don't...remember anything..."  
  
Beatrice traced Katya's jawline gently with her other hand and placed a finger to her lips, shushing her.  "It's alright.  No more talk of beasts, and Hunts.  And especially of ghastly Nightmares."  She pressed her forehead to Katya's, her breath hot on her skin.  "We're back together now, aren't we?  Isn't that all that matters?"  
  
Katya squirmed.  There was something about her mere presence, the feeling of her hands lightly caressing her cheek that felt unnervingly suffocating.  And yet, she was still so alluring, that soft seduction she was so easily good at was showing itself again.  
  
"Hm?  Are you going to try to run again?"  Beatrice teased.  She moved the arm pinning Katya down and ran it up her spine, clutching a large bunch of hair at the base of her head and pulling back.  Katya's body immediately tensed in response, and she fought not to let out one of her own.  "I thought we agreed that wasn't a good idea."  
  
"I'm not running!"  She protested.  Her breath was heavy.  How was she worn down this quickly?  "And you're quite calm, for having such a dangerous Hunter in your clutches."  
  
"I suppose I am."  Beatrice replied smoothly, nuzzling herself against Katya's neck.  She kissed her neck, letting herself carelessly linger for a moment.  "Your pulse is racing right now.  Are you anticipating something?"  
  
Katya let out a short laugh and tilted her head up.  "You're such a tease, I know I'd never get anywhere even by begging."  She propped herself up on one arm and kissed her jaw, moving down towards her neck.  "That being said, I wonder what's more invigorating, your roaming hands or the sweet song of your blood?"  
  
Beatrice moved her hand to block Katya's kisses.  "Didn't we agree to not bring up such horrible things?"  
  
Katya quietly took Beatrice's hand and placed her knuckles to her lips.  "Perhaps.  But never forget, I'm a Hunter first and foremost."  She dragged her onto the bed, slipping out from underneath her.  "I will destroy you.  I will always want to taste your blood from every scratch I make on your skin."  She leaned in close, whispering in her ear.  "But, most of all, I will always watch your every move, your every breath, and use it for my own means."  
  
Beatrice was unfazed by the position change, only a slight smile painted on her lips.  "And what, pray tell, are your wretched means, my darling?"  
  
Katya smiled back and bent down to kiss her when everything melted away, and she was left floating in a black sea alone.  She curled into a fetal position as she sank down, letting the darkness consume her.  
  
_Find me at the edge of reality._  
  
A large burst of light came from below, swallowing the darkness around her.  She looked up to see a man standing below her, a sad smile on his face.  
  
"What are you doing?"  She cried out, reaching towards him.  He said nothing.  "Why do you think this would make anything better?!"  
  
"Because it just might."  He finally said.  He began disappearing, tearing apart and dissolving.  "And even if I leave, who's to say I'll ever be gone?"  
  
"You fool.  You have no idea what you've just done."  Katya replied, closing her eyes.  The light around was getting to be too much.  She, too, faded away into the light, reaching out to the boy who she knew she couldn't change.  
  
"I'll come and find you.  I promise."  
***  
  
The soothing feeling of the Hunter's Dream washed away everything as Katya came to, glad to see something familiar.  
  
"Welcome home, Good Hunter."  The Doll greeted her as she walked up.  "It's been quite a while.  What is it you desire?"  
  
"Thank you, my dear."  Katya replied.  "I found this strange world a few days ago, and a town called Portia.  If I could only take you there.  It's beautiful, and so full of life and color.  I think you would enjoy it."  
  
The Doll nodded softly at those words.  "It's nice to know you're thinking of me in that regard.  But I'm just a mere Doll, here to serve.  Even if I could leave, there would be nothing for me to do.  Nothing for me to fulfill my purpose."  
  
"Well, then, you'd just have to find a new purpose."  Katya replied as she ducked into the Workshop.  She grabbed the loose Yharnam Hunter's coat that she had left hanging above the weapons station and put it on over the simple white shirt and teal pants she woke up in.  "Just like how I would."  
  
"And what would your new purpose in Portia be?"  The Doll asked.  
  
Katya was silent as she finished getting dressed, straightening her hat and fidgeting with the kerchief covering her mouth and nose.  
  
It was a good question, one that shouldn't have been ignored.  But she really didn't have an answer to give.  
  
"My purpose would be to live."  Katya said after a couple moments of hesitation.  "Not in survival, but just...living, as a person.  Learning how to live again."  She exited the Workshop and made her way over the messenger bath, crushing a couple pieces of coldblood in her hands.  
  
"That sounds admirable."  The Doll remarked.  She watched as Katya picked up the sword and the pair of blades left at her feet and did a few practice swings, testing the weight and speed of the weapons.  "You have changed, Good Hunter."  
  
Katya stopped, standing up after rolling towards her.  "In what way?"  
  
"When you talk, you seem softer than when you did before you left for the Dungeons."  The Doll explained.  "There's a light in your eyes that's been missing, a want for life.  You're not as cold, either, and you seem to show emotion in a more expressive way.  You seem...happy, about what you've found."  
  
Katya nodded as she went back inside.  "I suppose I am.  It's different, it's full of things I never got to fully experience."  She sat down at the weapon bench again and began fortifying the sword, as well as the blades.  "I can...reinvent myself."  
  
As she settled into working her new tools, the conversation was dropped there.  This was always relaxing to her, carefully kneading the blood stones into her weapons.  Even if she couldn't get them to the state her old ones were in due to lacking materials, just having new weapons to work on felt...refreshing.  If she had a stereo, she'd have put it on blast for an extra burst of focus.  
  
But despite that, she still sang softly as she worked, old songs that came to her head at random intervals, dusty lyrics sang from adjoining rooms while somebody was doing something else, words that echoed without meaning to.  
  
It was a soft, nostalgic feeling, that preoccupied singing.  If she had been younger, it would have been empty, lonely.  
  
Katya had finished the regular fortification when she remembered lacking a gun.  She grabbed her Evelyn, used from a time where she nearly lost her pistol to the Chalice Dungeons, from where she placed it and began working on that, as well.  Bloodtinge gems for the Evelyn, physical for the blades, bolt for the sword.  She was ready to fight, if needed.  
  
Katya stood up and stretched after being stooped at the bench for so long, then grabbed her new equipment.  She noticed a new grave, one that hadn't been there before.  As she approached, visions of Portia swam through her mind.  
  
"Well, I'll be off, then."  She said to the Doll.  "I know I didn't stay for long."  
  
"You don't need to apologize, Good Hunter."  The Doll replied softly.  "May you find your worth in the waking world."  
  
Katya took a deep breath, letting the image of where she was surround her.  And then she was gone once more.  
  
The Doll stood there for a couple more seconds, then turned and went into the back garden.  
  
She needed to warn Gehrman that she was getting worse.


	7. Forbidden Communion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter at the Everton House sets off an alarming chain of events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains scenes of blood, violence, and allusions to emotional manipulation and gaslighting, as well as language. Please take these into consideration as you proceed.

The Everton House was a place of mystery, and one to stay far away from.  At least, that's what all the locals said about it, anyway.  
  
All the poor security guard ever saw, though, was just rebellious teenagers sneaking in trying to take pictures of the 'ghosts' living there and nosy tourists looking at everything a little too closely.  
  
Which is why the weirdest thing he had seen was a woman sneaking in to take a nap.  A woman who didn't even appear on the cameras, no less!  And of course, everyone else was either too paranoid or busy to deal with her.  
  
Up the staircase, past the(frankly, in his opinion) creepy Everton family portrait, to the bedroom on the farthest side of the west hall.  The youngest daughter's, it was largely believed.  Dressed in bright pinks and yellows, it was hard not to think it was.  And draped across the bed was a woman who certainly didn't belong.  
  
Looking at her, the guard felt like she belonged there though.  Her blood red lips were distinct, her thick and matted black hair strewn about the bedsheets.  Her clothes were odd and ragged, clearly not of Lucien origin.  She was a very deep sleep, judging by how she hadn't even stirred when he opened the door.  
  
If he hadn't been told she had been found sleeping, he would've thought that she was dead, due to how pale and sickly her skin looked.  
  
"Oh, please don't wake her."  A voice said from behind.  "She's had a rough few days.  It'd really be best to leave her alone."  
  
The security guard turned to see another woman standing behind him, with long auburn hair.  She wore a plain pink sundress with a matching hat, and carried a longsword in her hands.  
  
"Wha--You're not allowed in this area."  He stammered, stunned by her sudden appearance.  "Please, leave at once, or I'll be forced to call the Flying Pigs!"  
  
The mysterious woman took a step towards him, causing him to step back in fright.  "Really, you'd do that to us?"  
  
"Y-Yes, you're trespassing."  He tried to remain calm, but the sword glistened ever so deadly.  "Please, I'm only going to ask you again for you and your friend to leave."  
  
The woman asleep on the bed slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly.  "What's all this about?  Jazzy, I told you to--"  Her attitude shifted as soon as she saw the guard.  In a flash, she was out of the bed, grabbing a blade from off the nearby dresser.  "Who are you?  Why are in here?"  Rage was heavy in her voice as she crouched into a fighting stance.  "Damn, if you're going to try to make me talk, think again!"  
  
"Please, Miss..."  He looked between the two of them.  "I don't know what you're talking about.  This area is strictly off limits..."  
  
"Yeah, from people like you."  The black-haired woman split the blade into two and circled around him.  "What are you here for?  Revenge?  To finish the job your predecessors couldn't?"  
  
"Ooh, Katya, you make me shiver!"  The redhead said, still proudly holding the sword.  "So, is this what you truly wanted to be stronger for?  Not for Yharnam, but for avenging your family?"  
  
The black-haired girl, Katya, turned when she heard the other girl speak.  The grips on her blades wavered as she saw her.  "Be...Beatrice?  What are you...?"  
  
"I wanted to see how far your rage went."  Beatrice explained, smiling.  "So, I took you to the place where it would most be quantified.  Weren't you curious about how you passed out after using the lantern to return to Portia?"  
  
The blades turned their direction to Beatrice.  "Why?  Why are you doing this?  You...you turned me into that thing.  I saw you!"  
  
Beatrice was unfazed.  "How far are you willing to lose yourself, Katya?  How much sanity would you lose to protect the ones you loved?"  She let out a small laugh.  "Oh, wait, that's right!  You turned into a coward and ran away.  Didn't you?"  
  
Katya lunged at Beatrice, screaming.  Beatrice easily dodged, holding up her sword.  The two went back and forth, Katya getting more and more frantic with each swing of her blades.  She backed up, breathing heavily, and noticed the guard cowering in the corner.  
  
"You need to leave.  Now!"  She said, lunging at the other girl again.  The guard didn't move.  "NOW!"  
  
Just as the security guard got up to attempt to leave, Beatrice grabbed him.  Katya backed up again, only to hit a wall.  
  
"Well, you said it yourself, Katya."  Beatrice said easily, placing the sword down next to her.  "This man worked for the people who killed your family."  
  
"I...I never..."  Katya was losing it.  "He's not involved...I was..."  
  
"You said he was involved."  Beatrice was losing patience.  The light outside turned harsh, otherworldly.  Red stained the room, red from...outside?  "And if he is, then surely something can be gained from a little...retribution."  
  
"It's not retribution, it's murder!"  Katya fought the urge to scream this, but still found herself taking a step towards him anyway.  She was shaking, hard.  
  
"You've done it before, and so easily, too."  Beatrice remarked, pouting.  "Do I need to name some?"  
  
The shaking stopped, but Katya still looked unnerved.  "Don't."  The grip on the blades tightened.  "Don't do that."  
  
"He was involved with your family's death."  Beatrice repeated.  "So, do it.  Avenge them.  And if you try anything smart..."  She picked up the sword and waved it around.  "This might go somewhere unsavory."  Katya stayed put, silent, looking at the floor.  
  
"Listen, Katya, was it?"  The security guard spoke up.  "You don't have to do this.  You don't have to listen to her!  The Flying Pigs should be here any minute--!"  
  
"You don't get it."  Katya said flatly.  "You're my prey now.  I had my sights on you, and now I must destroy you."  She looked up, her eyes void of emotion.  "And well, you know what they say:  A Hunter must hunt."  
  
Her movements were stiff and jilted, like she was fighting something back.  Staggering, she raised her blades up, and letting out a war cry, struck.  
  
Blood splattered across the floor and onto the wall.  The security guard fell, blood oozing out of his chest.  Katya dropped to her knees, clutching her chest.  
  
"Oh, my darling Katya."  Beatrice said, tilting her head up.  "Whatever did that poor guard do?  He was just doing his job, after all.  Oh, but you wouldn't have known that!"  
  
"Known what?"  Katya asked through gritted teeth.  
  
"Well, you see...maybe it's better if you just saw for yourself."  The redhead cooed.  "It might not sound right coming from me."  
  
Katya flung a blade against her friend's neck, pushing her back to the wall.  "Tell me, now."  Blue lights resounded against the red light pouring form outside.  "What the...?"  
  
"Oh, look, the Flying Pigs finally arrived.  You should ask them about why everyone acts so weird around here."  Beatrice gently pried herself from the Hunter's grip and smiled back at her.  "After all, you were the one who killed somebody."  
  
Footsteps came from downstairs, and Beatrice was suddenly gone.  Katya grabbed her sword and placed its sheath onto her back, took her Evelyn from where it lay on the dresser, and looked at the balcony facing the forest behind the property.  
  
Only one way to go.  Taking a deep breath, she opened the doors and took a running start.  
***  
  
Emily shuddered with cold.  This ocean was so alien to her, so formidable.  She couldn't move, curled in a ball, slowly sinking further away from the surface.  Nothing was around her in the dark.  She was alone.  
  
_Oh, lonely wanderer..._  
  
Emily opened her eyes as she heard the voice echo through the water, straightening up slightly.  
  
_You have returned, at last._  
  
A looming presence formed around Emily, something curling around her waist.  Visions burst in her mind, causing her to close her eyes again.  Humanity and destruction, answers to the universe and minds being lost to it.  
  
_Or, were you just merely passing through?_  
  
Emily clawed at her head, willing the horrible visions to stop.  Bubbles escaped her mouth as she screamed.  Whatever had hold of her pushed her up towards the surface, letting go.  
  
_I hope you one day return for good, wanderer.  Return to the sea, where you were always meant to be..._  
***  
  
Beatrice was in the garden when she heard Katya singing.  She looked up, almost snipping the sprig of rosemary she held in her hands too long.  Quickly readjusting, she finished her work and ran back inside.  
  
"Katya, you're awake!"  She said, practically throwing open the door to the music room.  Katya turned from her position on the piano bench and smiled.  
  
"I told you I'd be fine."  Katya replied.  "It was just a little fainting spell, after all."  
  
"You were asleep for two days!  I was super worried, you idiot!"  Beatrice tried to contain her panic.  "Stop trying to do everything yourself."  
  
Katya got up and gently hugged her, taking the basket of herbs with her.  "I'm sorry, my dear.  I had no idea I worried you that much.  But look, I'm okay now, aren't I?"  She let out a series of harsh coughs, taking a few deep breaths afterwards.  
  
"Katya, you're getting so much worse..."  The redhead remarked softly.  "And this is the third time you've collapsed like that."  
  
"The doctors weren't helpful, Beatrice."  Katya reminded her, walking out of the music room.  "You heard what they said.  So..."  She leaned on the barrister of the stairs, holding her head.  "So, we're just going to have to make do with the time we have."  Regaining her balance, she went into the kitchen and began preparing water for tea in a kettle, while she got a small teapot for the tea to steep in.  
  
Beatrice slammed her hand down on the table and yanked the teapot away from her, sending it clattering onto the tray in front of them.  Katya took an uncertain step back as she pulled on the chain connected to the collar around Katya's neck.  
  
"You think I want this?"  She asked, tightening her grip on the chain.  "I never asked for this.  Why are you just alright with you dropping dead?!"  Tears filled her emerald green eyes, spilling onto her face and the floor.  "I don't understand, Katya.  I can't understand you!"  
  
Katya held Beatrice's shoulders gently, smiling softly.  "I don't expect you to, my dear.  But, don't misunderstand me, either.  I'm scared, so scared.  I never thought, ever since you found me, that I would want to die.  That's how much you changed me.  I've just...accepted it a little more easily."  
  
Beatrice's grip lessened on the chain.  "Do you think I'm being selfish?  For not accepting this?"  
  
"You're human."  Katya answered simply.  "It's only natural that you wouldn't want me to leave you."  
  
"You act like you're not."  A soft smile formed as her tears were wiped away.  
  
"I never was, though you know that already."  The teapot was gently picked up again, lavender, rosemary and chamomile put into it from the herb basket.  "I'll miss this.  I'll miss you."  
  
"Good.  You can come back and haunt my future lovers, then."  Honey and sugar were grabbed from a nearby cabinet.  
  
"Planning on replacing me already?"  It felt good to laugh, especially after the fights had gotten worse.  "How cruel of you."  Katya looked up from the window.  
  
Judging by the waves of flame-like magic coming off them, they were a spirit.  But, so human feeling, it was hard to think they were.  A girl it looked like, standing in the middle of the rose bushes.  Her honey blonde hair was down and spiraled around her, flowing in the light breeze.  She was crying, with a curious expression on her face, her blue eyes locked with Katya's blue-green.  
  
"What are you seeing?"  Beatrice asked.  "Are those fairies or whatever back messing up the garden?"  
  
"No, this is...I don't know what this is."  Katya replied.  "Have I...seen you?  Do you have a message?"  
  
Beatrice went back to preparing the tea as soon as she heard Katya speak in that low, hushed tone of hers.  It was a voice she rarely heard, and one never spoken to her.  A tone only meant for the things she alone could see.  
  
"I don't understand.  That place doesn't exist here.  I've never heard of it."  She tilted her head in confusion.  "To the sea?  Why there?"  Another pause.  "I've never been to the ocean.  Why would I return to a place I've never been?"  
  
She wanted to ask.  She wanted so much to ask her what she saw, who or what she was talking to.  The soft gaze on her face was almost irresistible, much like the low, soft tone she kept speaking in.  Envy and jealously weren't normally words she would use, but at this moment, those expressions made her become consumed by them.  She wanted a special voice spoken to her, a new expression to suddenly appear, one only she would see.  But all she got was a passive, fleeting gaze.  An occasional flicker of a smile.  
  
Katya was good at two things:  Hiding and pretending.  And Beatrice knew this all too well.  
  
It was better to leave her alone in this state, instead of wishing for things that would never be.  Beatrice grabbed the whistling kettle from off the stove and poured the water into the teapot.  The sharp scent of herbs filled the air, pulling Katya out of her trance.  
  
"Sorry.  This was...a strange one."  Katya said as she turned to face Beatrice.  "I might do some poking around.  There was the girl, and something else.  Something...potent, malicious.  Don't go near the rose garden until I figure all this out, alright?"  She reached into the fridge and grabbed some berries, putting them on the tray.  "It certainly wasn't human, but..."  
  
There she was, the cold, bitter side that Beatrice despised.  She was overbearing, yet cynical and calculating.  Possessive to a certain degree.  And always, always chilling to just even make eye contact with.  
  
It wasn't someone who always appeared.  But when that side of her did, Beatrice was horribly reminded of all the things she hated about herself, and that even when Katya was as alive and well as she was in the past, she was nothing more than a shell.  A broken little girl hiding behind a mask.  
  
"Beatrice?"  
  
Katya's voice cut through Beatrice's thoughts, startling her.  She looked at her questioningly.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that."  Katya clutched her collar out of nervousness.  "I know you hate it when I get all serious on you.  I just needed to sort out my thoughts.  I wanted to let you know, too, that I made up my mind.  On our deal, while I still have time, while we're still together."  
  
Beatrice reached up and lifted Katya's hand off her collar, tracing it with her fingers.  "Not here.  Too many eyes.  The usual spot tonight, maybe?"  She let go of Katya's chain slightly, letting it run through her hand as she opened up the dumbwaiter and put the tray inside.  "I'll give you the signal as usual.  And thanks, for taking everything I said into consideration.  You didn't have to."  
  
Katya was silent as she walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.  She started going into another coughing fit, covering her mouth with her hand, waving off her companion as she approached.  She lifted her hand away from her mouth wordlessly and staggered back in shock.  
  
Pale pink blood dripped onto the floor from her hand and mouth, almost a white color.  Beatrice looked back at her, stunned.  
  
But she looked undeterred as she let out a small chuckle.  "You know what?  Fuck planning.  We're leaving tonight, my love.  And nobody's going to stop us from doing so."  
***  
  
Emily rose from the spring, gasping heavily for air.  She lifted herself onto the ground, uneasy from the sudden reappearance of gravity.  The world around her was dark, malevolent.  Things moved around her, curious things.  
  
She knew this part well enough, at least.  Kosm had told her about this:  At the end of a corridor was a small altar.  She was free to do what she wished there, whatever exactly that meant.  
  
And so, through the dark she trudged.  The air felt fetid and claustrophobic, the crunching and squelching under her shoes not helping the situation any better.  Keeping one tentative hand on the wall, she pushed away the terrible thoughts clouding her mind.  
  
Old, ancient whispers weaved their way to her, beastly hisses and growls pushed her forward even more.  Further, further away from sanity she marched.  A song rang out through the hall, a song that couldn't possibly exist, yet pulled her so.  A lost siren's song of a disenchanted reality, a reality that held no grounds.  
  
Something stopped her from going any further.  The altar Kosm spoke of.  She knelt in front of it and ran her hands over it, finding a small goblet.  
  
Emily picked up the goblet and drank it dry, coughing on the thick, putrid liquid.  Unknown words and visions filled her head.  She dropped the goblet with a loud clang, clutching her head in pain.  
  
Oh, how it writhed, those lost, desperate answers!  She dropped to the ground, screaming.  It was like something had snapped within her, something that had made her human was now lost.  
  
The pain had gone from downright unbearable to a strong ebbing feeling.  She couldn't move from her sprawled position on the floor.  
  
Though it wasn't from pain.  It was from _fear_ .  
  
Blood stained the floor and walls, and spilled a little from the chalice she had drank from.  The altar was half smashed, and on the wall above it, was a mark.  
  
An odd rune type thing, it seemed to judge her from where she was on the floor.  Made of simple lines and one dot at the end, it looked very much like a man hanging from the ceiling with his hands bound above his head.  
  
She had seen that rune before, but where?  
  
Her head was still spinning.  She closed her eyes, letting darkness take her over again.  
  
Sleep, she needed sleep.  
  
Even if she couldn't dream, it was something she could hold on to.  
  
To rest, and await the day she could return to the sea...


	8. Beginning to Strike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discovery of a murder leads another to be involved with Katya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a short scene at the beginning that contains blood and mild disturbing imagery. Please take this into consideration as you proceed.

"So, what's the situation here?"  Mali asked, walking up to the Everton House.  A nearby guard looked startled at the guild members approaching.  "We heard something about a weird problem?"  
  
"There was a woman asleep in one of the rooms."  The guard nervously stammered.  "We sent someone to deal with it, but that was fifteen minutes ago, and nobody's seen him since.  The woman's disappeared, too."  
  
Mali sighed.  Nothing less from the Everton House.  "Fine.  You three, search for the guard and the woman downstairs.  I'll go upstairs with the other two."  
  
The six Flying Pigs members quickly got to work, reassuring people and making sure they weren't in the way of anything.  Luckily, the second floor was barely populated.  She opened the farthest door from the entryway and screamed, falling back in shock.  
  
The missing guard was spread out on the floor, blood splattered all around him and pooling on the floor.  Blood was also sprayed on the walls, dripping down ominously.  
  
This wasn't real.  It couldn't have been.  The Free Cities were peaceful.  Sure, there were a couple things that went south, and Duvos was always a thing, but...Lucien stayed fairly crime free.  
  
This murder, this unneeded death...how was it right in front of her?  
  
"Mali, we've found the missing woman!"  A fellow guild member said, running up to her.  "She's taken off into the woods."  He saw her shocked expression.  "Is something wrong?"  He followed her gaze into the room and quickly shut the door, pulling her up.  "We can worry about that later.  If the woman was the only other person in here..."  
  
Mali nodded.  "We have to go after her.  Don't let anybody be on this floor until we get back."  As she headed down the stairs, she spotted a young woman going up.  "I'm sorry, but the second floor is off limits for now."  
  
The young woman smiled and let out a soft laugh.  "You seem like you're really strong.  Hey hey, if you want to have some fun, I have a great idea.  Get her to the Peripheries."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  Mali asked.  
  
"That girl you're pursuing!"  The woman seemed to be impatient.  "Drive her all the way over there.  I'm sure it'll be lots of fun to watch."  
  
Mali blinked, and she vanished.  She sighed again and ran down the stairs, calling for backup.  
  
Never a dull moment at the Everton House.  
***  
  
Katya slowed down as she felt the blue elixir wear off, panting.  The Flying Pigs would be catching up to her relatively soon, if they were able to trail her well enough.  As she reached for another elixir, a thought formed in her mind.  
  
A really dumb, but rather clever idea.  
  
Katya chugged the blue elixir, feeling her presence dilute, and pressed her back to the closest tree, digging her palms into the bark.  She closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of the tree behind her, the soft ground underneath her feet.  A soft ebbing trickled from the back of her head to the front.  Her breathing slowed as she felt a similar pulsing start to resonate within her body and around her.  
  
Time to begin.  
  
She visualized the branches and leaves bending and twisting all around her.  The forest path becoming lost in the shuffle, places looking like ones she had passed before.  Vines and moss grew around her, ensnaring footprints and covering all possible tracks.  
  
Words began falling from her lips.  "Let my path be unknown, may my adversaries be lost in their way.  Oh Neighbors, dizzy and impede them, oh Forest, protect my being, oh Wind, carry me to where I belong, where I shall be safest.  Let me be safe, and find my way."  
  
A gust of wind blew around Katya gently.  She fell to her knees, gasping from using such intense magic.  
  
"Oh."  She opened her eyes and found herself in a small clearing with a small shimmering spring in front of her.  _I guess I used too much magic and made it into a teleportation spell instead._   She laid down on the grass, feeling the toll of the spell take effect. _Well, I can just sit here and wait until dark.  I doubt they'll keep searching for me for that long._  
  
Katya's mind began to grow heavy, her eyelids struggling to stay open.  She should've been more alert.  She didn't know how far out she was from the place she woke up in.  She didn't know if the people after her had also been transported somewhere else.  
  
But, the grass felt soft, and the sunlight that trickled through the canopy of the trees was warm and soporific.  
  
She deserved a bit of rest, after everything she had been through.  
***  
  
_That raven..._  
  
Kosm's voice cut through the void again as Emily returned.  A hazy shape stayed perfectly out of sight, but still had that chilling presence Emily had now familiarized herself with.  
  
_What do you think of her, my child?_  
  
Emily pondered this question.  "In what way?"  
  
Kosm swam through the currents, almost as if they were contemplating the very question they asked. _Their magic is wild, and not easily contained.  Perhaps a test is needed._  
  
Emily nodded slowly.  Kosm's vagueness was something she was still unsure about.  It was a test of loyalty, that was pretty much obvious, but the lack of sanity she seemed to be facing, that she knew waited for her, often made her hesitate.  The words they whispered softly to her, the orders she felt compelled to obey were slowly turning sinister.  
  
But she didn't want to shy away from it anytime soon.  
  
"I can see how you think that."  Emily replied.  She felt herself slowly floating back to the surface.  "She's maintaining a steady flow of magic currently.  We should probably make her stop, if she's as frail as you're implying."  
  
_Yes, that would be quite wise._   Kosm flickered down into the deeper depths. _I await your return, my child.  May you always find your way back to me._  
***  
  
Mali and her group ran through the woods as the trees got more and more dense.  There was no sight of the mysterious woman, and the only thing they could find was greenery.  
  
"I swear, we've been through this part before!"  One of her fellow members shouted.  "How are we even supposed to get back this way?  Look, Mali, we have to turn back at this point and call it a loss.  We're going to be lost forever otherwise!"  
  
This had been said several times.  With the sun dipping low into the horizon, Mali wanted to agree.  
  
"If we leave now, they could've made their way to Duvos potentially by morning."  Mali wearily argued.  "And then what?  We just leave a murderer to get away scot-free?  I'm not letting that happen."  
  
As she took a few steps forward, the forest warped around her, the path shifting beneath her feet.  Unsteady, she fell to the ground and shut her eyes.  
  
Within a few seconds, it stopped.  Mali rose back up and looked around.  
  
Both Flying Pigs members were gone, no trace of them being there.  The wind howled, the sky growing darker.  
  
"Who are you?"  A small voice asked.  Mali looked to see a little girl hiding partially behind a tree, looking at her with apprehensive eyes.  "Why are you here?"  Her short black hair fell slightly into her face as she tilted her head to the side.  
  
"My name's Mali."  She said this calmly.  "It's okay, I'm just looking for somebody."  
  
The girl refused to move, her white dress getting softly dragged by the wind.  "These woods are dangerous at night.  The Neighbors don't like strangers."  
  
"Neighbors?"  Mali echoed.  Did this girl live out here?  
  
The girl noticed her puzzled expression and shook her head.  "I'll show you the way out.  Follow me."  As she stepped away from the tree she was hiding behind, she stopped, looking at something behind Mali.  She took a couple steps back.  
  
"What is it?"  Mali asked.  The girl shook her head again, not paying attention to her.  She looked to where her gaze was, but saw nothing.  
  
_You lack eyes, Flying Pig._  
  
Something was placed over Mali's eyes, causing her to back away in horror.  She turned to see someone laughing at her.  
  
"There we go, isn't that better?"  They asked.  "Ah, to have a body again.  It feels so refreshing."  
  
Just as Mali was about to ask what they meant, a shock of recognition ran through her.  Before she could say anything, though, the girl quickly grabbed her hand and started running.  
  
"They're not human."  The girl said as she lead her deeper into the woods.  "I don't know what they are, but they're not a real person!"  
  
A scream rang out from nearby, and the world warped again.  The girl dissolved with the changing world, and a dark swirling mist encompassed her.  Somebody grabbed her arm and leapt through the mist with her in tow.  
  
"You can't just stand in the fog.  Either you leave, or you fight."  Her captor said simply.  "And the more to help us fight, the better."  
  
"What's even going on?"  Mali protested.  "I don't understand anything anymore!  Why is this happening to me?"  As she looked to the sky for answers, she knew her questions had no such replies.  
  
Questions were pointless, answers meaningless drivel.  
  
And she let out a scream to emphasize this point before her mind could truly shatter.  
***  
  
Katya woke up to find the sky growing dark.  She sat up and froze as she saw Emily sitting nearby, gazing into the spring's reflection.  
  
"You looked like you having a pleasant dream, so I didn't want to wake you."  She explained.  "Did you do this?  It's beautiful."  
  
"When did you get here?"  Katya asked.  "I see your wounds have disappeared, so I assume Kos had something to do with it."  
  
Emily let out a soft laugh and looked up at her.  "You could say something like that."  
  
"You're trusting a Great One, presumably with your life."  She picked at the grass absentmindedly.  "I don't get how you could, but I won't tell you otherwise.  Just...be careful, alright?"  A familiar scent got picked up in the air, and she grabbed her blades from her belt loop.  
  
"Is something...?"  Emily asked, only to find Katya standing over her, the blades pointed at her throat.  
  
"Something was a little off about how you were acting."  Katya replied.  "But, now I get it.  You stink of beast blood, and it's especially prevalent in your breath."  She placed the blade up to her neck, but without the pressure needed to break the skin.  "You're not human anymore, are you?"  
  
"Do you think I know the answer to that?"  Emily asked.  "Katya, please, put the weapon down.  You're just going to lose control."  
  
She hesitated, but finally took the blade of her neck and put it back on her belt loop.  "Sorry.  I just haven't been myself lately.  Thanks for that."  She wavered slightly.  "I don't know what's been going on with me lately."  
  
"I do!  And it's because you've been such a naughty girl, Katya.  Running away from me like that wasn't very nice, you know."  
  
Katya turned to find Beatrice standing behind her, smiling proudly.  
  
"And why are you here?"  She asked, putting an arm out to protect Emily.  
  
"Why do you think?"  Beatrice replied.  "My, this place is really lovely.  It must be nice to surround yourself with old memories, huh?"  
  
Emily quietly took a step forward.  "Katya, she's just messing with you.  You don't have to listen to her."  
  
Beatrice took notice of Emily.  "Ooh, who's this cutie?  You know, she reminds me of that one chick you told me about once.  The High Priestess' daughter.  Lorelai, wasn't it?  So, I guess this means she's your type, huh?"  
  
"Shut up!"  Katya shouted.  She turned to look at Emily, her face slightly flushed.  "Emily, you go and get yourself someplace safe.  I'll meet back up with you later."  
  
Emily looked at Katya, then back to Beatrice.  "Promise me you'll keep yourself safe."  Katya wordlessly nodded in reply, and Emily took off.  
  
Beatrice let out a vicious grin.  "You know, Katya, you were always bad at promises.  That, and looking ahead."  Before Katya could react, she heard a loud crack and felt a quicksilver bullet pierce her side.  She stumbled to the ground, coughing profusely.  "You played right into my hands.  Thanks for the pistol, by the way.  It's so much fun!"  
  
"You really think that alone can get me down?"  Katya grabbed a blood vial and plunged it into her right leg, standing up.  "Neither of us are the same person anymore, we can both admit that.  And I'm sorry I didn't come back until now.  If I had been more bold, more willing to actually fight instead of run away and dream, I probably would've been in your arms right now."  She grabbed her Blades of Mercy and split them into two.  "But now?  Now, I don't care anymore.  I don't care who you once were, you're in my sights and I won't stop until you're dead."  
  
"Good, very good.  Now, save that wrath for the real battle."  
  
A powerful force rocked through Katya's body, sending her to the ground.  Everything spun and dissolved around her.  She could hear herself screaming, but she didn't know why.  It was a painful, excruciating blur.  
  
As the force ebbed away from her, and her senses returned, she saw a familiar fog surround her.  Readying her Blades and Evelyn, she jumped through it.  
  
At last, the cause of her existence in Portia had revealed itself.  
  
And it was exactly what she feared it to be.


	9. Encounter with the Edge of Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katya, Maria, Mali, and Emily begin their fight against Portia's Nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains scenes of blood, violence, mildly disturbing imagery, and language. Please take these into consideration as you proceed.

Emily had been the last to emerge from the Nightmare Fog, and she looked confused when she arrived.  
  
"This is...we're at the Peripheries now."  She remarked.  "Oh, Mali's here.  And...is that Lady Maria with her?  There's...something in the air..."  As she pointed to where the two were at, she, too, became fixated on the Nightmare swirling in the sky.  
  
Katya looked away from the being in the sky and in the direction she pointed at.  "You're right.  Hey, Maria!"  
  
The Old Hunter looked up and nodded in greeting at them.  "Well met, Good Hunter.  And Emily, was it?  It's nice to see you both well."  She looked back at Mali.  "I found her in the fog.  I figured we might need the extra help, so I brought her with me."  
  
Katya looked at her, eyes vacant and staring at the sky.  "Humans can't normally stand the sight of a Great One, so I'm pretty sure _this--_ "  She gestured up to the sky.  "--Caused her mind to unravel.  And I told you, if it was a Nightmare, it would be _my_ prey."  She paused.  "How did you even find us?  How did you get here?"  
  
"Whatever you did, it opened the eyes to more residents of Portia."  Maria explained.  "They saw I was a Hunter, told me what happened, and sent me on my way to you."  She let out a sly smile.  "And do you really think you could've handled this on your own?  You can barely control your magic.  That was reckless, letting your memories override whatever spell you were trying to do."  
  
Katya frowned slightly.  She vaguely remembered a spring like the one she was at before, and the forest outside of her home was a place she knew all too well about.  "I've been wondering why I've felt so tired..."  
  
The Nightmare swooped down from the sky and landed in front of them, blowing a stream of sand around them.  Katya quickly pulled out her sword, combined it with its sheath, and passed it Emily.  
  
"Hope you're good with swords.  The unformed version is faster, by the way."  She said, applying something to her Blades of Mercy, causing them to glow an eerie blue.  "If you're here, you might as well fight.  Even if you're just human, an extra person is always useful."  She aimed her Evelyn at the Nightmare and got into a fighting stance.  
  
The Nightmare shuffled from side to side, hovering in the air slightly.  It looked vaguely human, with what it was supposed to be its arms being tattered and bloodstained feathered wings, and its legs bound heavily by chains.  Another pair of wings sprouted from its back, pitch black and demon-like, and another pair of arms were in the middle of its torso, wielding a pair of claws.  It was impossible to tell who the human it was trying to imitate, someone strangely familiar, yet completely unknown.  While both Hunters seemed unfazed by the sight of it, Emily had a similar expression to Mali's.  
  
Just as Katya was about to tell her something, the Nightmare charged at her, forcing her to jump to the side.  She rolled and slipped in the sand, unaccustomed to fighting in it.  
  
"This thing's pretty fast."  She said, getting up.  "I don't think parrying and viscerals are going to work."  She jumped back as the Nightmare turned and began attempting to claw her with vicious speed.  Just as it was about to bring down one hand, she struck with her blades, feeling the power of the counter flow within her.  It staggered back, and she took the opportunity to take a few more swipes at it before ducking back, breathing heavily.  
  
"It's attacks are predictable."  She reported, applying the glow she had on her blades before.  "It should be easy to swarm and overtake.  Just be careful."  
  
Maria and Emily nodded, readying their weapons.  The Nightmare screamed and began charging again, this time at Emily.  She held the sword in front of her, paralyzed.  She muttered something under her breath, tensing up.  
  
"Please guide and protect me, my moonlight!"  
  
As it reached her, a blinding light emitted from the sword, lightning dancing around the edges.  The blade had changed, now a beautiful glowing green-blue color.  The Nightmare threw her off, but she ran back and slashed at the creature, blood pouring out and onto the sand.  
  
"That blade..."  Maria remarked, stunned.  "I know it well.  How...?"  
  
"Yeah, that sword isn't supposed to do that."  Katya added.  "Now c'mon, while it's distracted!"  
  
_Stop it!_  
  
Katya swung her blades to keep on balance as she lost her footing, digging them into the ground.  The Nightmare turned towards her.  
  
_Help me, please!  Make it stop!_  
  
Maria jumped in the way, countering with her rakuyo.  She turned to see Katya cowering on the ground, not out of cowardice, but a strange sense of fear and knowing.  
  
"He's scared.  He doesn't want to die."  She whispered.  "He just wants it all to stop..."  
  
"Well, you stop fighting, you die."  Maria replied.  "Now's not the time to stop."  
  
_Please...it hurts..._  
  
Katya shook her head as she stood up again.  "I'm sorry, but you're too far gone.  The only way for remorse is to destroy you."  She ran towards the Nightmare, slashing away with her Blades of Mercy, sidestepping an attack easily.  "After all, isn't that the job of us Hunters?  To stop beasts like you?"  
  
Emily backed up from attacking, panting hard.  "And while I'm not a Hunter, I will protect the Free Cities.  So, I'm not giving up either!"  She jumped forward again, barely missing a slashing attack and striking again.  Lightning bounced off in all directions as she managed to get a few more hits in.  
  
"Just because you're motivated doesn't mean you can be reckless."  Katya cautioned as she swung her blades upward, catching a claw mid-swing.  She threw it off and slashed at its side.  "I'm the only one who can dream here, after all."  She let out a small shout as she flung sideways, blood pouring from a cut on her side.  "Damn, this thing is a tank!  We've barely done a scratch on it if it's still fighting like this."  She quickly moved in and began hitting the Nightmare again, feeling her wounds transfer onto it.  
  
_No!  Stop it!  You don't know what you're doing!_  
  
Katya barely registered the arm being swung in her direction as she clutched her head in pain.  She soared in the air, landing on her back and skidding to a stop.  The Nightmare screamed, the chains around its legs breaking and falling off.  Their wings enveloped its body, another pair sprouting from its head and covering it.  
  
"Don't let it open its wings!"  Katya shouted, taking a blood vial and plunging it into her leg.  "It looks like a seraphim now!"  She sprinted back towards the fight, jumping and tearing a large portion of wing.  
  
_Please, just leave me alone!_  
  
Katya flinched as she landed, allowing the Nightmare to turn towards her and open its wings, plunging a knife into her stomach.  She coughed and sputtered in shock, tasting blood in her mouth as it spewed out of her.  She slashed at it, making it let go of her, and she ran out of sight of it, feeling her frenzy build up.  
  
"I'm fine, I..."  As she tried to get this out, blood still pouring from her mouth and abdomen, Katya quickly used two more blood vials, gasping.  "Sedatives, where the fuck are my sedatives?!"  
  
"We're in no condition to properly fight this thing."  Maria whispered, hacking away at it, her blood giving her an extra amount of reach.  "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this.  This is not a good place to die."  
  
"You're just giving up now?"  Emily protested, swinging her sword wildly.  "I thought you'd be braver than that."  
  
"We can't keep fighting if it does this to us the whole time!"  Maria explained, shielding her eyes as it enveloped her with its wings.  She stabbed it with her rakuyo as it tried to open her eyes, raking its claws and knives down her side.  As she was let go, she crawled away army style.  The Nightmare charged towards her again.  
  
Emily lunged towards the Nightmare, screaming, standing in front of Maria.  Charged with an almost inhuman sense of ferocity, she slashed and tore away at the Nightmare, her attacks becoming more insane and feverous with each blow.  
  
_You, too?  You're just a human...you're just like me.  Why do you want me dead so badly?_  
  
The emotions flowing through Katya's mind began to become too much.  The grip on her weapons wavered as she began to reach the peak of her frenzy, falling to the ground, entering a near hyperventilation-like state.  Another two vials, though it did nothing to her breathing.  A vicious thought formed in her mind, and she closed her eyes, focusing on the Nightmare's emotions and pain.  
  
Maria shakily stood up, using her rakuyo as support.  She grabbed Emily's arm while she was in mid-swing, making her stop and turn around.  
  
"You're letting yourself go too far."  She said, wobbling as she split her weapon in two.  "Go and guard Mali.  We'll deal with this ourselves."  Emily opened her mouth in protest.  "Just go.  It's better this way, anyhow.  We don't need any other people destroying themselves."  
  
Emily didn't respond, only backed away, eyes trained on the Nightmare.  The Nightmare, surprisingly enough, backed away as well, facing Maria.  It listlessly hovered in the air, side to side.  Watching, waiting.  
  
"It's defending itself..."  Emily said softly.  "It doesn't see a reason to fight."  
  
"Or it's protecting something."  Maria added.  Carefully, slowly, she reformed her weapon and placed it on her belt loop, holding her hands up.  She began to back away, just as slow.  "We're not going to hurt you.  Not anymore.  We just want to go home."  
  
The Nightmare tilted its head.  Maria pointed to the where the fog was thickest, in front of a large metal gate.  
  
"Home."  She said.  "That's home.  Can you get rid of the fog so we can go there?"  
  
The Nightmare shuffled through the air again, then landed on the ground.  The air around them warbled as the fog began to lift.  
  
Maria let out an astounded smile.  She lifted Mali up in her arms.  "Let's get Katya and get--"  
  
A horrifying shriek cut through her sentence as a large blade cut through the Nightmare's back.  It fell to the ground, and another thing rose up into the air.  
  
Maria didn't get a good look at it.  All she saw were its eyes.  
  
It's many, many eyes, covering its blood soaked face.  
  
No time to think, just react.  
  
She grabbed Emily's hand and ran as fast as she could, away from the fight, away from the Nightmare, away from this new monstrosity.  
  
****_"NO!"_  
  
Maria pushed Emily in front of her as she swung her rakuyo up in defense.  Blood spilled onto the sand.  
  
"Run!"  She yelled, pushing Mali into her arms.  "Get to Yharnam!"  She quickened up to her new adversary, stabbing it.  "I'll catch up to you, I promise!"  
  
Emily nodded, and obeyed.  The sky turned an unearthly shade of purple.  Maria soon caught up to her, as promised, grabbing her arm again and pulling her along.  
  
Church bells clanging together soon filled the air, sounding a cacophonous funeral dirge.  Everything felt dreamlike, fuzzy and distant.  Emily couldn't focus on anything as she was pulled along, losing all sense of direction.  She was being pulled into a void, a never ending vortex.  Only her legs moved, almost against her own volition.  
  
Nothing else mattered.  Nothing else felt real.  
  
The only thing keeping her conscious was the feeling of Maria's hand tightly gripping hers as they walked along.  
  
That, and the constant ringing of church bells, echoing endlessly to the lost souls of this strange realm.  
***  
  
Maria collapsed on the cobblestones as her feet met solid ground.  She shakily stood up and looked around.  Blood and madness filled the air as a great blood red moon shone overhead.  Mali was still unconscious, but Emily was beginning to become lucid again, the glazed look in her eyes fading and slowly being replaced by one of intrigue and fear.  
  
A closer look determined that they were on the Great Bridge.  A far ways off from where they needed to be.  
  
"Why'd you just leave Katya there?"  Emily asked, looking around.  "And...how did you know that would lead us here?  Where are we, anyway?"  
  
Maria was silent for a while.  She grabbed her rakuyo and held it in a defensive stance.  "I would've liked to help her.  I honestly would have."  
  
The realization dawned on Emily, and she fell silent.  "She'd done that before.  Is this...please tell me this is like that time before."  
  
"She might be fully gone.  I'm not entirely sure."  She walked over to the other end of the bridge, limping.  "But, it's to be expected.  After all, it's a Hunter's fate, to become a beast."  
  
Emily ran up to her, holding her sword in front of her.  "Why would you say such a thing, let alone say it so casually?!"  She held the tip of the sword to Maria's neck.  "She's a person!  Yes, it's her job to hunt these...these things, but she was human once, too!  And to basically say her existence lead up to this without any remorse...how can do that?"  
  
Maria looked at the ground, unsure of how to react.  She gently moved the sword from her neck and gave a sad smile.  
  
"As if we were human to start with."  She remarked.  "I know many who probably turned into inhuman monsters.  Many more who went mad with bloodlust and drunkenness.  I know you don't understand, and I'm sure you don't want to, but it's something I've learned to live with.  Same goes for my many...many sins."  
  
"Aw, you think you've gotten over your past.  How adorable!"  
  
Maria and Emily looked to see who was on the other side of the bridge.  Framed by the light of the moon, Beatrice stood proudly, smiling, holding a different looking sword in her hands.  Katya stood next to her, eerily silent.  
  
"Katya, you're--!"  Emily went to move forward, only to be blocked by Maria.  
  
"Something's wrong here."  Maria cautioned.  "Look.  There's something there, something in her scent..."  
  
"You're quite observant."  Beatrice remarked.  "Even an ordinary Hunter would have trouble finding it."  She let out a soft laugh.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  You thought you'd be safe here, didn't you?  Well, that was your first mistake.  You've only stepped into my domain."  
  
"What the hell are you?"  Maria asked.  "You're no regular specter.  Yet, you're only interested in Katya.  Nobody else."  
  
Beatrice quickly moved forward, grabbing Maria's shirt collar and pulled her close.  "Perhaps you'd be better off leaving the sleuthing to the adults, and being back in your tower!"  
  
Something was hurled at her, which she dodged haphazardly.  "I'll only return to that infernal place when I'm long since dead!"  She split her rakuyo in half and charged at her relentlessly, rolling back and sidestepping when needing to dodge hits.  "Emily, grab Mali and get out of here!"  
  
"But, your wounds!"  Emily insisted.  "You can't fight in your condition!"  
  
Maria skillfully quickened out of the way of a thrust forward and cut through Beatrice's side.  "What's a little blood to be spilled, for the sake of a friend?  Now go, and hurry!"  
  
Emily watched her as she continued to fight, then nodded and raced towards Mali. _Leave the fighting to the ones who can actually do it.  Don't get more involved than you have to_ .  
  
Katya jumped in front of Emily, nearly stabbing her.  She stumbled back, then held her sword out in front of her.  Katya recklessly charged at her, sidestepping to her side and going in for another strike.  Emily whirled around, holding the sword in a defensive pose, blocking in just in time.  She backed away, towards Mali, ready to run again.  
  
"I won't let you get away that easily."  Beatrice cooed, dodging Maria's further attacks.  "My darling Katya, show her your true power!"  
  
Katya's body burst in a surge of darkness, and a great winged being stood in her place, the same one that had gotten her into this mess.  
  
Though, now it looked complete.  
  
A horrifically bloody face with only several pairs of eyes and a wicked grin stared back at her, framed by stars and nebulae flowing in her hair.  Several section of hair were caught by a glowing red antler, the other was blue, and broken into shards.  A pair of feathered wings, almost so black they seemed to refract light, grew from her back.  In her hands were two bloodied blades, which she twirled and played with in an almost excited fashion, and the collar and chain from before was toyed with as well, twisting with the blades' movement.  
  
Emily was stunned, her mind feeling like it could shatter at any moment.  She had no time to fully process what was in front of her as she was quickly swept off her feet and hurled into the air.  The sound of metal hitting cobblestone reverberated throughout the bridge.  She quickly got up before Katya could swoop down and stab the ground where she had been before.  Katya lunged at her again, stabbing her side.  Emily collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.  It hurt to breathe.  
  
Maria looked over and was about to run over when Beatrice took the opportunity and slashed at her stomach.  She staggered back, letting Beatrice get another hit in.  Maria shot her arm, trying to stop her in vain.  
  
"You really think that you could stop me?"  Beatrice asked, knocking her onto her feet.  "You're even more pitiful than I thought."  She held her sword overhead, aiming for her heart.  
  
A sudden rumble from the earth made her stop.  The air slowly became hot and arid as embers danced around the bridge.  Maria quickly got up and stumbled her way to Emily, weakly standing up herself.  
  
"Now, behold my power..."  She said, letting out a weak laugh.  A small flame danced around in her palm, which only got stronger with the strange rumbling sound.  
  
Just as Maria was about to ask her what she did, a loud scream emitted from beyond the bridge, and a hulking, flaming beast jumped out onto it.  The beast lumbered towards Beatrice, still screeching.  She slashed away at it, flames bursting from it whenever it was hit.  
  
Emily, meanwhile, held the flame close to her chest, causing it to dance around her.  Her eyes glowed a calming blue as the flames became part of her being, her hair even unspiraling from its braid as it became a large flame.  Her wounds healed, and a pair of wings carried her into the air.  
  
"Here, this look should suit you better."  She gently touched Katya's face as she said this, causing her to freeze.  A calm wind blew around them, and in a whirl of black petals, Katya was freed from her previous form, wearing a long black backless sundress, a pair of black wings still protruding from her back.  "You're a raven now, rather than a beast."  
  
Katya's bare feet touched solid ground, and Emily smiled at her, letting her fingers linger on her face before letting go.  It was a strange, calm smile, with a hint of melancholy.  She went over to the flaming beast still fighting Beatrice, and whispered something to it.  The beast nodded, and disappeared within a burst of fire.  
  
"Would you like to be purified, too?"  Emily asked Beatrice, hovering in the air above her.  Beatrice looked terrified, backing away from the girl.  "It's alright.  You could always be a dove..."  
  
Beatrice pushed her aside, and jumped off the bridge, disappearing somewhere within the moon's reach.  There was silence for a while.  
  
"I can take us back to the Peripheries."  Emily said, still hovering in the air nearby.  "I just..."  She collapsed, the flames dying around her.  
  
Katya ran over and caught her before she hit the ground.  "She's exhausted herself.  She's in no real danger, luckily."  She looked up at Maria.  "You look like crap.  Here, take it."  She grabbed a couple blood vials from her coat.  
  
"You need it more than me."  Maria replied.  "Let's just get out of here.  I'll grab Mali, you take Emily."  
  
"So, you've figured it out too, huh?"  Katya asked, lifting Emily up.  "The whole gateway thing?"  
  
Maria nodded.  "But, how did she know that she had the power to revert you back to normal?  Even your eyes are their right color again..."  She grabbed Katya's hand as the void started to surround them.  
  
"Maybe she really is a phoenix, then."  Katya remarked softly.  She staggered slightly as they got out, coughing profusely.  Blood poured from her mouth as she fell to the ground.  
  
"Hey!  What's wrong?  Katya, answer me!"  Maria's hands were shaking.  "You need to get up.  I can't carry all of you at once!"  
  
Other voices from nearby began whispering.  She looked up to see a few other people standing nearby.  
  
"We're getting help, don't worry."  One of them said, noticing her worried gaze.  "Come on, it's not safe here."  
  
As they began helping the four of them, Maria breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
The worst, for now, was over.  
  
All they had to do was wake up.


	10. Bitter Tastes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the girls recover, Maria, Sam, and Gale make an interesting discovery.

Mali was the first to awaken of the three.   
  
Her eyes were empty, and sad.  She said nothing, even as Maria looked up from repairing her weapon, a thin stream of blood flowing from her hand and coalescing around the small chips and scratches in the blades--an odd but rather useful Vileblood trick she had learned a long time ago.  She had been looking over Mali and Emily for quite a while, it was easy to lose track of the time with nothing to do, she thought it had to been almost a full two days by now.  Katya, on the other hand, had been placed in another wing entirely that was under strict watch by several doctors.   
  
No one knew what exactly was wrong with her.   
  
"How do you feel?"  Maria asked, gently placing her rakuyo to her side.  "You were out for a while."   
  
Mali slowly turned onto her side, making no effort to sit up.  "What was it?  That thing I saw."   
  
Maria looked down, unsure of how to answer.  "Something that probably shouldn't exist.  At least, not in this place."   
  
"When it looked at me, I saw so many things."  Mali continued, almost oblivious to the Hunter's answer.  "Pasts and futures, destruction and beauty.  Worlds of darkness, worlds of light.  But, it wasn't scary, or confusing.  And that's what I don't get."   
  
"Well, what did it feel like?"  It wasn't out of concern, but more of a morbid and cautious sense of curiosity.  Perhaps it was because it was an outsider dealing with a Great One, a Nightmare, even.  Or maybe just because her mind had shattered, but she was able to pick up the pieces.   
  
Most of those said pieces, anyway.  There was clearly something not all there, something that had been lost in those fleeting moments of madness and panic.   
  
Mali was silent again.  She turned onto her back again, looking at the ceiling.  Her eyes weren't as empty as before, but they were still so sad, so...desolate.   
  
Although, Maria couldn't help but notice that that same sad gleam was the same one in Katya's eyes.  She wondered if she looked into her own, if that same gleam would be repeated a third time.   
  
"...Rain."   
  
Mali's comment brought Maria out of her stupor.   
  
"Or a cloudy day following a starlit night."  Mali continued, lost in her own world.  "Like a close friend sharing a blanket with you.  The intimacy following a long and deep kiss.  Or, maybe it was more like the feeling of a train just passing through on the tracks?  Or being alone in a shop in the middle of the night.  Does it make sense to you at all?  Probably not."   
  
"Somewhat."  Maria replied quietly.  "But, I get the general feeling.  So, that's how you perceive it..."   
  
"How would you?"  Mali asked.  "What did you see in that thing?"   
  
Maria tilted her head back and closed her eyes.  "Death.  Ill omens.  Pasts coming to haunt everything involved in a singular event.  A locked room.  A locked tower.  Betrayal."   
  
Mali nodded.  "You and I see two very different worlds.  I wonder why that is?"   
  
"Because I've seen so much more pain than you would ever hope to comprehend."   
  
"Different worlds, indeed."   
  
There was the soft shuffle of bedsheets being moved as silence soon filled the room.  Maria gently picked up her rakuyo again and began her repairs once more, humming a soft song under her breath.  It was almost calming, this strange sort of silence that was around them.  The soft sounds of sleeping breath, the occasional shuffle of shifting weights.  The clinking of metal medical instruments broke the softer melody, but wasn't loud or often enough to be considered a cacophonous addition.   
  
Even from outside, it seemed pleasant.  They were far enough from the busy roads that it was hard to hear the bustling city life that surrounded them, from all the noise and chaos of everyday life.   
  
So different from Yharnam, and yet it was facing the same adversaries.   
  
Maria put down her weapons again, finished with her repairs, and walked outside the room to stretch her legs.  She was surprised to see Sam and the mayor waiting for her just outside, Gale pacing in a borderline frantic manner and Sam leaning against the wall casually.   
  
"Yo, stranger."  Sam said playfully.  "Want to walk around for a bit?  I'm getting a little stir crazy being inside for so long."   
  
"And if you could tell us about what happened, that'd be great."  Gale added, motioning for her to follow.  "We have no clue about what exactly happened, after all, and since you're a part of whatever Katya's involved in, we thought you might be able to help."   
  
It was quite sound logic, and Maria was beginning to feel caged, too.   
  
No use sitting around, after all.  It wasn't a bad idea to leave for a bit.   
***   
  
Lucien was a busy, bustling town, full of both modern technology and ancient ruins.  Occasional announcements were made through the series of intercoms stationed throughout the streets, mostly warnings about Duvos spies and to keep away from Hazardous Ruins unless certified by the Flying Pigs to be near them.   
  
Maria stopped in front of a large, gaudy building, a man playing the guitar and singing softly while sitting in front of it.  A large stone staircase lead up to the glass double doors, but nobody seemed to be interested in stopping by.   
  
"What is it?"  Sam asked, noticing their companion hadn't been following them.  "Oh, this place.  It was some kind of Old World building that got repurposed into a museum.  We could probably talk in there if you wanted.  No one goes in there, they say it's haunted."   
  
"I'm not surprised."  Maria replied, walking up the stairs.  The man's singing got louder and more emotional with each step they climbed, as if he was singing to their deaths.  "I'm not entirely sure, but the structure is reminiscent to that of a cathedral."   
  
"A cathedral, you say?"  Gale asked, also beginning to climb the steps.  "There is a rather large cathedral of the Light somewhere, if you're interested in checking it out."   
  
"No, this place is fine."  Maria brushed aside his concern.  Even he seemed on edge.   
  
But, perhaps that's what she found so mystifying about this place.  This lonely, abandoned cathedral of...what exactly?  Forgotten gods?  Maybe even old technology?   
  
Whatever it was, it pulled her in, called to her.   
  
Maybe it was just out of nostalgia.  Maybe it was fear.   
  
But, whatever it was, she wanted to investigate.  She wanted to know.   
  
The guitar player at the bottom of the steps wailed out a ballad, a swan song of death that seemed to echo to the fading light of the sky.   
  
Maria gently pushed open the doors to the Cathedral Museum to find a dimly lit lobby of some sort, pictures and displays all over the place.  Most were of the keepers of the cathedral, a small family know as the Woodsens.  It appeared there was some sort of hierarchy that they followed, but most of it was unknown.   
  
"This place gives me the creeps."  Sam whispered as she and Maria walked through the strangely empty halls.   
  
"It is stifiling, yes."  Maria whispered back.  "But, also strangely calming.  You were right.  This is a good place to discuss what happened to Katya."   
  
A couple halls down an odd photograph caught Gale's eye.  A picture of the youngest in the Woodsen family, Lorelai, with another girl.   
  
The girl looked suspiciously familiar.   
  
"Hey, you two, come look at this."  He called out.  "I found something."   
  
" 'Lorelai Woodsen, pictured with Sabrina Everton.' "  Maria read aloud.  " 'Exact relationship unknown.  For more information on the Everton family, go to the Everton House Museum'...You're right.  That _is_ something.  She looks like Katya.  They might just be related, though.  Do you think that's possible?"   
  
"Sabrina Everton was the last of her family to live here before it was known as Lucien."  Sam explained.  "I guess so.  It's hard to say with people who lived during the Age of Corruption, since it was so long ago, and we barely have anything on them."   
  
"But...she looks just like a younger Katya."  Gale replied, confused.   
  
Maria nodded, looking at the picture longer.  "And with her memories the way they are, we can't exactly confirm anything.  But, the next question is, how did she get to Yharnam if that's the case?  You didn't even know it existed until she showed up."   
  
The three of them fell silent.   
  
"Maybe we're overthinking this."  Sam said after a while.  "It could just be a huge coincidence, or our minds playing tricks on us.  I know it's not likely, but it's the only explanation I have."   
  
"Or, there's a cover up happening."  Maria muttered.  "Something that the people of the Age of Corruption wanted to keep hidden.  Do you know where the Everton House is?"   
  
As the three of them left, Maria couldn't help but notice the guitar player's song had vanished, any evidence of him being there reduced to just an empty guitar case.   
***   
  
Maria, Gale, and Sam walked out of the Dee Dee vehicle and onto the lawn of the Everton House Museum to find it swarming with Flying Pigs members.   
  
"What in the...?"   
  
Just as Sam got that out, a guild member approached them.   
  
"Sorry, the museum's closed for now."  He said, hands gently out in a gesture of apology.  "We're currently investigating something that happened here."   
  
"What happened?"  Gale asked.   
  
"Believe it or not, a murder."  The guild member replied.  "A guard found someone somewhere they weren't supposed to be, didn't return, and when we got here, he was dead."  He sighed heavily.  "And to top it all of, Mali, who was supposed to be in charge of all this, disappeared, too!  That forest can't be that big."   
  
"Mali's in the hospital."  Maria blurted out.  "I just spoke to her.  We found...something out in the Peripheries.  Have you had any reports about something being out there, or people going crazy after going in there...?"   
  
The guard was silent, staring at Maria with a confused, unsure expression.  "What kind of thing?  And you need clearance from us to enter the Peripheries.  How did you get in there?"   
  
Maria was silent, gears turning quickly in her head.  Just as the guard was about to ask her something else, she bolted for the woods, Sam elbowing the guard in the stomach and grabbing Gale's hand.   
  
"She'll find her way back to us."  Sam explained, running up the steps and into the museum.  "For now, we need to figure out what happened here."   
***   
  
After pushing to the side several members of the Flying Pigs, Sam and Gale stood in the middle of the crime scene, a rather large bedroom, decorated in soft pink colors.  Blood splattered the walls, and the door to the veranda overlooking the forest was wide open.   
  
"Wow."  Sam said softly.  "I...I can't believe it.  This is awful."  She stepped back from the blood covered wall and onto the veranda, taking slow, deep breaths.  "How could this have happened?  This place has always been so peaceful.  How could someone have been killed like this?"   
  
Gale was silent, just looking around slowly with an awe struck, appalled expression.  He looked at Sam, but still said nothing.   
  
"This couldn't have been her, right?"  Sam asked softly.  "This... this wasn't Katya's fault, right?  She...I know she tried to...it was in self defense.  It had to be."   
  
"I'm not sure.  We just have to trust her word."  Gale replied.   
  
Sam nodded.  "Let's keep looking.  There might be something in one of the other rooms."   
***   
  
It took about two hours of searching, with interruptions by other guards being a factor, but the two of them finally found a small lead.   
  
The Everton girl Sabrina's mother, Katya Everton.  She and her husband Michael were scientists, though what they were studying had been lost to time.   
  
"But, they died, didn't they?"  Gale asked, looing at the picture of the family in the lobby.  It was a large, beautiful watercolor piece.  Katya and Michael stood proudly in the back, one hand on their eldest daughter's shoulders.  Her dark brown hair was done in an ornate bun, a soft smile on her face.  Clutching the hem of her skirt was Sabrina, a soft, serene frown on her face.  She looked a lot like her mother, her black slightly wavy hair framing her face quite well, barely touching her shoulders.  They looked like a model, upstanding family.   
  
And from what they could tell, they were.  Rich, noble, but always willing to lend a helping hand to others in need.  A proud member of the church, as well, and good friend of the Woodsens.  The older daughter, Jasmine, sang and told stories, and was quite good at it.  Sabrina, on the other hand, didn't do much, but was well known for her quiet but caring demeanor.   
  
"Yes, that's the problem."  Sam replied, joining him at the stairwell.  "It was said that this house burned down a long time ago.  Everyone but Sabrina died."   
  
"It doesn't make any sense."  Gale said, sitting down in defeat.  "Why are we looking through all this for a connection?  They lived in the Age of Corruption.  She might just be a descendant of the Evertons, that's it."   
  
"Because she looks so much Sabrina, it's a little creepy."  Sam said, looking back at the portrait.  "Tell me that upon first sight of that thing, you thought that was Katya."   
  
"But then, why is she _Katya?_ "  Gale asked.   
  
"It's a common name, isn't it?  Or, maybe the name got passed down the family tree to her?"  Sam guessed.  "I don't know.  This was all Maria's idea, and now she's off in the woods doing whatever.  Let's just get back for now.  Curfew's coming up soon."   
  
As they left the Everton House in a confused sense of defeat, they felt like someone, or something, was watching them intently as they left.   
***   
  
Maria walked though the forest, one hand over her weapon, with a strange sense of urgency.  Eyes felt like they were watching her from every angle, leering and assessing her.  It was almost suffocating, how closely she felt to being on the brink of paranoia.   
  
"Oh, are you lost?"  A voice asked, cutting through the silence of the woods.  Maria jumped and spun around in the direction of the voice, rakuyo at the ready.  A young man, around his twenties perhaps, stepped back in shock, his short brown hair flopping wildly as he stared down at the blade pointed at his throat.   
  
"My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you."  The young man said, laughing gently.  "I just saw you walking through here, and thought you might need some help.  These woods are quite dangerous at night, after all."   
  
"I'll be fine on my own."  Maria replied, putting her weapon back on her belt loop.  "What about you?  Why are you out here?"   
  
"I'm just passing through."  The young man said.  "I saw you running quite quickly through here earlier.  Are you running from the law, or perhaps just your past?"   
  
"A little bit of both, I suppose."  Maria answered this with a slight bit of caution.  Who knew where he was from, after all?  "So, a lonely traveler and a fugitive come to meet in the middle of the woods at night.  What's your story?"   
  
He laughed again.  "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.  After all, I'm sure you have some interesting secrets.  I've never seen a blade like that around here before.  So, where do you hale from?  Seesai?  Duvos, perhaps?"   
  
"What if I do?"  Maria asked.  "Would you turn me in to the authorities?"   
  
The man was silent.  He began walking and beckoned for her to follow.   
  
"No, I don't think so."  He finally said after a couple more minutes of silence.  "But, not out of protecting you."   
  
Maria was silent now, one hand resting firmly on her rakuyo.   
  
The man continued, seemingly unaware.  "It's odd.  Once I get out of these woods, it's like I'm invisible.  Nobody seems to know I exist.  I can walk around and do anything I please, and nobody bats an eye at it."   
  
"And just what have you done?"  Maria finally asked.  Again, more out of morbid curiosity, out of a thirst for knowledge, than for her or his own wellbeing.  "Tell me, what's the worst thing you've done."   
  
"The absolute worse thing I ever did was when I was still known and visible to the world."  He replied easily, without even thinking about it.  "Wouldn't you like to know that.  You're the fugitive.  What did you do to make you run here?"   
  
"Maybe I just needed to escape.  Maybe we committed the same sin."   
  
The man stopped and turned to look at her with an oddly stern expression his face, so cold and distant from his warm and friendly demeanor and voice, it made Maria pause and step back, gripping her weapon tighter.   
  
"That would be impossible if we truly did."  He said, his voice oddly flat.  "If you truly did make the same damned wish that I did, you wouldn't be truly human right now."   
  
"I'm not human."  Maria retorted, looking down as she did.  "I know I'm not.  But, what about you?  Are you not human?"   
  
The man laughed again, this time sounding hollow and forced.  "I'm the farthest thing from it.  I'm just glad I have this form for the time being.  Trust me, you wouldn't want to see what I really look like."   
  
"I've seen quite a few horrendous beasts and unspeakable evils in my time."  Maria replied, giving a small chuckle of her own.  "Try me, my dear traveler."   
  
The man saw she wasn't going to give up anytime soon.  "Very well, then."   
  
And she gazed upon his true form, and laughed with a sense of cynicism in it.  A laughed that echoed into the night, a laugh that could've belonged to someone truly, madly insane.   
  
She knew better than to trust a lone traveler in the middle of the night.


	11. And Silence Claimed Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily and Katya finally awaken, and prepare to go home.

Katya jumped up from rolling into a series of old crates, attempting to escape the beast after her.  It stopped as she landed on the ground below her, throwing its spear onto its back and grunting in that strange, almost breathlike pattern.  Her eyes adjusting to the dark quickly, thank goodness for that miracle blood, she saw a silhouette of a person standing far off in the distance.   
  
Approaching carefully, she could tell by their scent that they weren’t like the normal Yharnamites she had come across before.  In fact, their scent was like her’s, of beast blood and that strange, unidentifiable smell that clung to her, ever since she awoke.  Although, this stench of blood was much stronger of the figure in front of her, and...older, it almost seemed like.   
  
So, they were a Hunter, like that strange man in the Dream.  Like her.   
  
Axe at the ready, Katya slowly walked up to them, and nearly jumped in shock as she noticed them turn around and chuckle softly at her.   
  
“Your technique could do with some finesse, young one.”  A surprisingly feminine voice called out from behind a large beak shaped mask.  The Hunter drew out an arm from underneath a black feathered cape and beckoned her closer.  The entire ensemble reminded Katya of corvids.   
  
She used to like watching them, she suddenly realized, almost hypnotized by the Hunter’s movements, how smoothly and confidently she moved about, even with the heavy looking cape.   
  
“So, a new recruit, eh?”  She asked as Katya moved closer.  “And on tonight, of all nights.”  She made a low, sweeping bow, hand reaching across her chest.  Katya mirrored it back, unsure.  “And so young, too...  Well, whatever it is that drew you here, I hope it doesn’t spit you out too hard.”  She placed a couple bright white stones in her hands, marked with the strange symbol she had seen before.  “Here, to welcome the new Hunter.”   
  
Katya nodded and tucked them away with the multitude of pebbles and other things she had collected over time.  Those, she somehow knew, would prove quite useful in the future.   
  
“Well no use shaking in your boots.”  The crow woman said pointedly.  “You best be getting back out there.  A Hunter must hunt, after all.”  She let out another chuckle, low and humorful as she, or at least Katya assumed, looked at her again.  “You’re an oddly quiet one.  Cat got your tongue?”   
  
Katya remained silent, but gave another sweeping bow and turned around.   
  
That beast wouldn’t just kill itself, after all.  And she wanted to see more of what this new place she discovered offered.   
  
She had no time for idle talk with fellow Hunters.  All that mattered was that she made it out alive.   
  
Even if death wasn’t permanent in this strange, twisted world.   
***   
  
The following days were quite peaceful, oddly enough.   
  
Emily woke up two or three days after Mali did, also silent, but soon back to her cheerful self within the end of the day.  Mali grew more lucid and what Maria believed to be herself within that time, and eventually got discharged and went back to work.   
  
She didn’t talk about what happened with the others, not at length.  Just that something had suddenly pulled her away from the Everton House investigation and things went bad.   
  
A good, convenient excuse.  Maria was impressed by how easy it was for her to say it.   
  
Katya, on the other hand?   
  
Nobody still knew, which was beginning to worry them.  Even Doctor Xu was in the dark, despite the fact that he was on the team of doctors working on her.   
  
Everyone was too tight-lipped for their own good.  And Maria feared that there was a good reason for it, too.   
  
“Well, I think it might just be because of the fact that her body’s so fragile.”  Xu said, sighing heavily.  Sam had finally confronted him about it when he just walked past them in silence.  “It makes dealing with sensitive operations and wellness tests a bit of a pain, at least, according to them.”   
  
“She has a frail body?”  Maria asked.  “I would’ve never guessed just looking at her.  What an odd trait, for a Hunter...”   
  
“Well, yes, it is strange.”  Xu replied.  “And of course, there’s the issue of her blood.  But, for now, she’s actually stable.  Still unconscious, though.  That’s all I have to give you on the matter, sorry.”   
  
“It’s still good info.”  Sam gave him an apologetic pat on the shoulder.  “Thanks for letting us know she’s alright.”   
  
Maria nodded, and Gale gave a soft smile.  Emily was later relayed the news, being bedridden by the nurses’ orders.   
  
“That’s great to hear.”  Emily beamed.  “Oh, Maria, I was wondering, what do you know about Kosm?  I’m...I’m just curious.  You said she was dead at one point, right?”   
  
Maria was silent.  What did she know about Kos?  Most likely too much for her own good.  Too many wounds to open again, too many memories she didn’t want to be resurfaced.   
  
“A long time ago, my teacher, a fellow Hunter, killed her.”  Maria whispered carefully.  “And then, things got...out of hand.  Much too fast.  I won’t go into details right now.  But yes, Gehrman was supposed to have killed her.”   
  
Emily was silent.  She knew the Great Ones were a sensitive subject, especially if they involved Maria’s past.  But, the demands of Kosm, the dreams...   
  
“Don’t push yourself.”  Emily reassured.  “It’s fine.  When you’re ready to talk about it some more, you can tell me.”   
  
“Thank you for your concern.”  Maria replied.  “And don’t worry about me.  This is the least of my problems.  How are you doing, by the way?  I don’t think we’ve had a chance to chat like this in a while.”   
  
“I’m alright.  Still a little sore, but hopefully that’ll go away once I start moving around again.”  Emily said.  “In fact, I’ve been a little more motivated.  I want to help you and Katya take down that thing in the Peripheries.”   
  
“No.”  It was brash and curt.  Nothing more, nothing less.   
  
Emily fell silent again at Maria’s sudden demand.  She clearly looked unnerved by the prospect of her going in with the Hunters, but didn’t elaborate more.   
  
It was the final word in the argument, and that was all it was.   
  
Maria quietly stretched and muttered something about Emily getting some rest.  She absentmindedly nodded, watching as Maria walked out of her room.   
  
She wished Katya was there to at least give an explanation as to why.   
***   
  
Sam leaned against a nearby wall as she listened to Xu and another doctor talk through the wall.  This had been happening for a few days now, and it was starting to get on her nerves.  She got it was sensitive information, but when it was happening to someone like Katya, someone who was soon going to be a member of their team, she felt like she had a right to know.   
  
Bored with overhearing the dull science speak she had been listening to intently from the other side of the office wall, she perked up once she saw Maria walking down the hall towards them.   
  
“Yo.”  Sam greeted, pushing herself off the wall.  “I think they’re talking about Katya.”   
  
At this point, both Xu and the other doctor walked out, an annoyed, tense expression on both of their faces.   
  
“You’re a member of Portia’s Civil Corp branch, are you not?”  The doctor asked Sam, pointing at her.   
  
“Uh...yes?”  Sam asked, confused.   
  
“Then explain to me why you think that hollow corpse of a girl should be a member!”  He quickly said, clearly exasperated with the whole situation.  “Have you seen her?  She’s unfit to fight.  Hardly any muscle mass, her blood chemistry’s weird, her skin is pale and sickly...”   
  
“Well she nearly killed us, so I think she’s strong enough to fight.”  Sam cut in.  “Have you seen the weapons she uses?  They’re good and solid.  I’m sure she’s fine.”   
  
“I don’t think that’s the real issue here, Sam.”  Xu explained.  “What if something like this happens again?  We can’t deal with such a time bomb in Portia.  At least, not reliably.  We made a bit of a chore list for her to get better physically, and maybe her mental state will follow, as well.  Once that is done, you should consider making her a member then.”   
  
Sam looked at Xu, in a little bit of shock.  He knew about the plan, he knew that she just needed a cover.  To be fair, it was clear that from how Maria and Emily had been talking recently that they had been left in the dark in regards to being involved.   
  
Perhaps it was for the best, though.   
  
“That sounds like a decent plan.”  Maria replied.  “And I can keep an eye on her as well.  I know the symptoms of when she’s...about to lose control better than you guys, anyway.”   
  
A door near the end of the hall opened, and Katya stepped out of the room, somehow wrapped in her crowfeather cape.  She looked at her traveling companions, nodded a greeting, and walked towards the nearby window and gazed out at the scene below.   
  
“I’ll give you each a copy of the list.  Make sure that she’s done everything on that list to completion, and Doctor, please keep me updated on her condition.”  The doctor said.  Katya looked over at him once she heard that there was a list she would have to follow, but looked back to the window.  “And where is she going to be staying in the meantime?”   
  
“She can’t be in the Civil Corps building?”  Sam asked.  “That doesn’t make much sense.”   
  
“She’s impulsive, remember that.”  Maria replied.  “If she sees a fight she thinks you might not be able to handle, she will want to jump in.  And I’m assuming the doctors are trying to avoid that.”  Katya gave an insulted frown as a reply, but didn’t look up from her window gazing.   
  
“She could maybe stay with Emily?”  Gale offered.  “Do you think that might be a good idea?”   
  
“That sounds great, actually.”  Maria said.  “Considering the fact that it would probably be best for me to watch both of them at once.  Having them in the same area doesn’t sound so bad.”   
  
“And she could learn to adapt to live here in Portia better.  I’ll go ask Emily if it’s alright.”  Sam added.  She turned to Katya.  “Hey, guess what?  You get to leave now.”   
  
Katya turned and gave a small, but relieved, smile in response to hearing those words.   
  
For once, she actually looked happy.   
***   
  
The ride back to Portia was an oddly silent one.   
  
Katya busied herself with looking over her homework list, grimacing at it the entire time.  It was expansive.  A particular diet heavy on protein and vegetables, a special bath mixture that was supposed to brighten and renew her skin, a small exercise routine that she wasn’t supposed to deviate from until she had built up more muscle mass, and an order for a haircut, with a shampoo and conditioner to use to help it grow stronger and healthier.   
  
Katya sighed and put the list down, the only sound to come from her mouth in a while.  She lounged on one of the bus chairs, arm leaning on a armrest and holding her head up, while her legs draped across the back of the chair next to her.   
  
“How is that comfortable?”  Sam asked upon seeing her odd seating arrangement.  Katya just shrugged in response.  “And the cape?  I thought you left it at Django’s.”   
  
Katya nodded and flipped the cape back.  Spread out from her back, it almost looked like a pair of wings.  Sam shrugged in response, unsure if that even qualified as an answer.   
  
“How long has she been not talking?”  Emily asked Phyllis and Xu, glancing over at her from the front of the bus.  “It’s so strange, to hear her be so quiet.”   
  
“She’s been like this for a few days now.  Since she woke up, apparently.”  Xu replied.  “They don’t know why.  Couldn’t find anything wrong physically with her, so they’re assuming it’s something mental or psychological.”   
  
Emily nodded uncertainly.  It did make sense, she just wasn’t sure if she knew how to make her talk again.  Or if she even wanted to.   
  
Maria, meanwhile, sat near the back of the bus with Gale, who kept awkwardly peeking glances at her rakuyo.   
  
“So, uh, how does that thing...work?”  Gale finally asked.  “It’s like...a spear?”   
  
“Not really.”  Maria replied.  “It works just fine as a blade.  And you can do this.”  She twisted the middle section and held the two separated blades in her hands.  “Although I could probably see why you would think it’d be a good spear, too.  I can turn it into one, too, to a degree.  Though I won’t show you that.”  She put the rakuyo back together and put it back to her side.   
  
“Huh.”  Gale sat back, unsure of what to say next.  “That’s...slightly terrifying.”   
  
“Good.  Always be afraid of a Hunter.”   
  
“Oh...Alright, then...”   
  
Small snippets of conversation, much more idle that the previous ones, filled the air in small, hushed tones throughout the bus, but none of them really interested Katya.  None that she desperately wanted to tune into, anyway.  She just silently watched the scenery go by, holding a small comb that was given to her by one of the nurses.   
  
With how matted and tangled her hair was, there was no way that comb would survive.  But still, it was nice to at least hold it.  It had been quite a while since she thought of anything related to her health, the Hunt didn’t care about how neat or messy your hair was, all it cared about was survival.  Perhaps that was the main reason why she thought the list was tiring.  She hadn’t done anything to help herself beyond self preservation in quite a long time.   
  
Well, no time like the present.  There was a good thing in at least trying, right?   
  
Besides, as Sam and Xu had explained to her earlier, it was also a technical probation period before she could finally be officially enlisted as a member of the Civil Corps.  So, with that in mind, she was somehow looking forward to the challenge, keeping up her list of responsibilities and being on her best behavior was going to be interesting.   
  
And keep her mind off the Nightmare, at that.  She needed to get stronger to fight it, after all.  Maybe learning how to live a Portian life would help?   
  
It had been something she wanted to do.  Just living, not out of pure survival, but living a life she could be proud of, one that had a purpose besides killing endless hordes of beasts.   
  
Her new life was about to begin, she could feel it.   
***   
  
The bus rumbled to a stop just beyond the boundaries of the walls of Portia.  Katya stepped off and noticed a small section of the town she hadn’t noticed before.  She tapped Gale on the shoulder and tilted her head quickly in its direction.   
  
“Oh, the harbor.”  Gale said quietly.  “Or at least, what’s left of it.  You can go and check it out, if you want.  If you need anything from me, I’ll be in town.”   
  
The harbor was small, with a few remains of what Katya supposed were buildings at some point scattered here and there.  A small, haphazard dock sat in the ocean, and she could see a small island off in the distance.   
  
The sea.  She remembered always wanting to go there when she was younger.  Never knew why, perhaps the aesthetic of it drew her to it.  But still, the gentle laps of the water hitting the shore and the sting of the salt rich air hitting the back of her throat was quite calming.   
  
She could see why she begged her parents to go so often.   
  
Maria, on the other hand, watched Katya admire the view from a distance off.  Her eyes held some sort of anxiety to them, like gazing out for too long would cause her to snap.   
  
“Sorry, I’m ruining your moment, aren’t I?”  Maria asked as she noticed Katya’s patient stare locked on her.  “I just thought that after that incident in Yharnam, it might be better to keep an eye on you and Emily.  Make sure nothing like that happens again.”  Katya looked back at the gently rolling waves, then back to Maria.  “I’m fine.  I’m...It’s a long story.  One I don’t think I’d ever talk about anytime soon.”   
  
Katya nodded, then walked back towards the town, patting the Old Hunter on the shoulder reassuringly.   
  
As the two of them passed by Linda’s workshop on their way back to town, Linda excitedly waved to them and ran over.   
  
“Hey, you’re back, too!”  She said happily.  “Town Hall’s all fixed up.  Higgins helped a little, but it looks like nothing ever happened.  In fact, I dare say it looks even better than before.  Although the Peach statue is a little...different.  So, what happened?  Katya, do you know?”   
  
Katya gave a dismissive shrug and continued on.  Maria watched her walk into Peach Plaza, then turned her attention back to Linda.   
  
“We’re still not sure exactly.”  Maria explained.  “But I think it’s best not to over excite or overstimulate her for the time being.  Until we know what caused that transformation, anyway.  So, Linda, was it?  Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.  You really helped me out.”   
  
“Oh, it was nothing.”  Linda replied, jumping back over the fence to her workshop.  “I’m just glad you were able to catch up to them.  By the way, is Katya in a bad mood?  She seemed...not like herself.”   
  
“I’m sure it’ll pass.”  Maria said.  “Although, I don’t know either.  She’s just...quiet.”  Maria paused.  “Did something happen while we were gone?  You smell like beast blood.”   
  
Linda looked up from her tinkering on her workbench.  Slowly, carefully, as if saying it too loud might attract unwanted attention.   
  
“No, not really.”  She murmured.  “I’m not sure anymore.  You could say that there was something that might’ve happened, but it seems so mundane, it wasn’t anything big.”   
  
Before Maria could ask, Linda quickly grabbed her and pulled her into her house, where she began rummaging through a small chest near her bed.   
  
“There was this, though.  And a few strange looking monsters in the Hazardous Ruins in the chemical plant.”  Linda held something in her hands that she refused to let go of.  “I don’t know what it is, but I think the Church might want to see it first.  I think I saw these in some old textbooks, something about old religions...”   
  
Maria tried to get a closer look at what was in her hands, but she refused to have her look any further than she had.   
  
But from the small glimpse she had managed to get, it wasn’t anything good.   
***   
  
Emily stood up from her straightening up her room and stretched.  A small bed had been pushed in to make room for Katya, as well as a free storage chest from Linda.  It wasn’t much, but it had to do for the meantime.  Although she had avoided the farm in the few hours she had been back, Emily wanted to make sure Katya felt like she was arriving at a new home once she got there.   
  
_I wonder just what’s she’s been thinking about this long._  As soon as the thought entered her mind, Emily shook it out of her head.  If it was something Katya wasn’t ready to disclose, it wouldn’t be right to pry her out of that state.     
  
It just felt... _empty_ , with her being so silent.   
  
“It’s probably something to do with the thing in the Peripheries.”  Emily said this aloud, hoping her own words would soothe her.  “That’s all.  She’s working on a plan to get rid of it.”   
  
It didn’t help.   
  
Emily flopped into her bed, staring up at the ceiling in defeat.  What they had been through was too much, and now that she had gotten a taste for what Maria’s and Katya’s lives were like, she wanted to help them out, as much as semi-humanly possible.   
  
Emily frowned at the thought.  _If I’m talking to these Great Ones, it really does mean I’m not human, doesn't it?_  Both of them had mentioned that at some point, hadn’t they?  That they weren’t like the others.   _What a scary thought._   
  
Emily closed her eyes, letting sleep wash over her.  It wasn’t something to dwell on anytime soon.  She’d rather discuss it at whatever possible length she could with Maria.   
  
Since Katya was still silent.   
  
“Maybe talking about Yharnam will prompt her to speak again...”   
  
And with those words and a yawn, darkness took hold, and she fell asleep.


End file.
